Are the nature of numbers changing? Or to put it more accurately; is it our relationship with numbers that is changing?
I believe our new found discovery of really big numbers, has affected society on a subtle level, and if you'll allow me a moment's digression we can explore this frivolous phenomena together.
Kid Numbers
Do you recall being a child and counting to a million? I do. Well clearly I didn't count to a million, I thought I did, really, I genuinely believed when I was about 7 years old that I had counted to a million.
I remember it well, I proudly announced to all my friends that I was going to start counting at the beginning of break time (not even lunch!), and that I would use the entire playtime to reach the giddy heights of one million.
Word got around the school that this crazy kid was going to attempt to count past 100, past 1000, past 10,000 even, is he mad?! I must witness a boy this crazy!
Break started and off I went, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 . . . and so on, until 15 minutes later . . . 1,000,000!
The kids went wild, I was a minor celebrity for possibly the rest of that day.
"Did you hear? Cryptogee counted to a million!"
"No way! I didn't think that was possible!"
Just a few years later, I realised that there was no way I could have counted to a million in 15 minutes. In fact counting at the rate of 1 number per second, it would take 16,667 minutes, which is 694 days, that's almost two years . . .
Billionaires Are Messing Up Our Calibration
OK, so when I was a child a million was a huge number, Bill Gates didn't exist; or rather he did, it's just most of the world weren't aware of him.
I mention that because once the world did find out about Bill Gates, the word billion tended to be used when talking about him.
Yet now there are many billionaires in the world, quite literally hundreds. We throw around the word as if it is common place.
A Recursive Journey
A billion is big though, if you were given a dollar for every second you've been alive, you'd have been a millionaire by the time you were 2 years old, however you would have to wait another 29.7 years to become a billionaire!
Let's go bigger now, let's talk national debts, last time I was aware, America's national debt was in the region of 20 Trillion Dollars, if you hear a newscaster say it, sure they emphasise it, but they don't say it with the hushed awe a figure that size deserves.
Let's revisit your generous benefactor; this time he has upped the $1 he is giving you, to $10,000 dollars for each and every second you're alive.
You would need to wait till you were 63 before you got to 20 trillion dollars, if you wanted it by your 30th birthday, you'd have to be given $20,000 for every single second you're alive; wow!
Bitcoin's Cryptographic Numbers
OK, but those numbers are nothing compared to the numbers in cryptography. Bitcoin addresses are typically 160 bit (20 bytes) long, that doesn't sound very big, however the amount of unique addresses that can be created with 20 bytes is phenomenal.
This is the number: 1.46 x 10^48
Or alternatively we could write it like this:
1,461,501,637,330,902,918,203,684,832,716,283,019,655,932,542,976
Right so let's try and quantify that number, if you took all of the 7 billion, billion grains of sand on earth, and turned each one into an exact copy of earth. If you then added up all of the grains of sand on each of those new 7 billion billion earths, you would finally get to an approximation of that number.
In other words, from the moment of birth you would have to be given hundreds of trillions of dollars per second to get anywhere near that figure by the time you are 30!!!
To put it yet another way, from the moment of the big bang, to the time the universe dies a heat death 150 trillion years from now, there won't have been as many seconds to have passed, as there are possible bitcoin addresses . . .
!
Respect For A Billion
OK, so with all that being said, can we regain our respect for the word billion, please? It's huge, sure it isn't anywhere near the number of bitcoin addresses huge, however it is big enough that we shouldn't ever disrespect it by putting the word just, or only in front of it.
I HOPE YOUR HEAD HURTS SUFFICIENTLY FROM THINKING ABOUT THESE HUGE NUMBERS AND YOU ARE NOW PONDERING THE VASTNESS OF THE UNIVERSE. IF SO, LET ME KNOW BELOW!
Yep. My head hurts and I am pondering the vastness of the universe.
The first gob-smoking one for me is the difference in size between a million and a billion. I had no idea the gap was so huge. I would have guessed I would need to wait 16-17 years, in your scenario not 27+
And the other mind blowing one is the number of possible bitcoin addresses. That that can exceed the number of seconds passed from inception to heat death of the universe just makes my mind shut down.
So here's a little teaser for you. If you took the most powerful computer on earth and got it to run through every possible bitcoin address, how long would it take?
Or is that not even a viable question? 😁
Yeah it's a biggie :-)
It is a valid question, however the answer is boring, it's an NP problem for a computer, meaning it can't be solved in less time than the age of the universe.
Cg
Plus yeah, the difference between a million and a billion really impressed me the first time I truly comprehended it. :-)
Cg
We in Portugal call your billion a thousand of a million, and a billion is 1000 of those.
Not boring to me. Couldn't be better. I'm feeling dead impressed with myself for asking a valid question that is an NP problem for a computer. Can't wait to boast about it to my son.
It'll be fine as long as he doesn't ask me what NP means! null problem? no point? non performance? 😁😁😁
Hahaha, yes quick, it stands for non-polynomial (time), meaning it can't be solved in a reasonable amount of time, take of the non, and it can be solved :-)
Cg
I'm copying and pasting that @cryptogee. Going to find a way to use it.
Wish I knew it last Saturday. This bloke was banging on about the block chain. Determined to demonstrate his superior knowledge. If I could have thrown a bit of NP into the conversation I could have floored him!
'Course you always run the risk that they'll come back with something else and you end up looking a complete numpty! 😁
Me trying to imagine the quantity of that bitcoin number
Yeah, that's pretty mind-boggling.
The actual size of some these numbers that are just thrown about is hard to conceive. I agree that our perspective has been completely skewed. The mere fact that people like Jeff Bezos is personally worth around $90.6 billion when there are only (ha, only?) around 7 billion people on the planet is mind-blowing!
We are all numbers. For someone who is counting the people on the street we are numbers.
For someone, one dollar (number) will be a lot today, for someone it's nothing.
Number value is lost.
Every day I count the stairs to the house. It will not change, but I still count them. Even this is bunch of numbers that our computer turns into words. They can be of important value, but not to all of us.
So we all have different view of numbers.
I did not mess up with the numbers until I was forced to start thinking about them, and I can tell you, my head hurts from them.
I can't stop laughing. I actually think the same way you do, the way "billion" and "trillion" are used nowadays, makes it lose its respect. I honestly, I don't think it'll ever stop. Do you?
The unique addresses created with 20 bytes in bitcoin cryptography is outrageous, 7 billion billion for what purpose? When estimate has it that there are about 7 billion persons on earth. Does it make sense?
Of course it makes sense, it means that we will never run out of addresses, and no two people will have the same address. There's no point in just having one or two for everyone on earth :-)
Cg
Ouchh!!! Head still hurting
Outrageously huge billions
all the writing that you write I've read ,,,,, writing very inspiring
with pleasure, I follow you
Nope, humans are really bad of thinking such large scale numbers since there has been no practical benefit for such activity; until now we have not had anything to count that far.
Million and billion are kind of imaginable when put to perspective with population of Earth or an country but above that, nah, not gonna bother my brains with such tasks 😅
If my parents had known, they would have adopted this quoted strategy below to make all of us in my family billionaires...
With this, it so easy to become a billionaire. Lol. Thanks for this analogy
Upv by
@eurogee, the Steemivangelist and the founder of @euronation Newbie's Support Team
Yeah numbers are awesome, and deserve the due respect.
There are some things in life that can't be quantified in numbers like emotions and they are far more important.
So while taking the importance of numbers in consideration , the un-quantifiable thing should must never be ignored.
I think its so easy to get lost in number game, ignoring the other real things that are not defined by numbers.
Life is so short for couting these big numbers. Billion is a big number. It will take 31.68 years to count billion at a speed 1 number/sec. so it's a message for all of us don't run away with big numbers or money. Why we need billions if we can't spend it in our entire life. so just enjoy life and keep happy.
I really feel that concept of big money is the one that people have the hardest time comprehending. When someone makes say $50,000 a year to them talking about debts of $20 Trillion have absolutely no context.
Same goes with all of the entitlement programs everyone would like to be put into place. One that is starting to be talked about is a Universal Basic Income. This sounds great, but even at $12,000 a year (which many in the US would then argue is to little) where would this money come from?
In the US it is estimated that 45 million people live in Poverty. If we say that the Basic Income will be given only to these people we are talking about ($12,000 x 45,000,000) $540,000,000,000....that is a lot of zeros to say 540 Billion Dollars.
Due to the way the Federal Income Tax is collected it's estimated that with the new tax rates 45% of Americans will pay zero Federal Income Taxes. So that $540 billion added expense would then fall on the shoulders of the other 55%.
540,000,000,000 paid by 98,000,000 is an added tax bill of $5,510 per tax payer who actually pays taxes. Now we are at a number that people can relate to.
$5,510 a year in added taxes would mean someone in the middle class like myself no longer takes vacations, does less repairs around the house, puts less away for retirement, and buys a car less often. No matter how you cut it we will spend less money into the economy. This reduction in spending will mean less low skill jobs pushing more people into the poverty level as they can't find work.
Now the slippery slope gets even more slippery. With medical insurance subsidized for low income earners, with food subsidized, with housing subsidized, and now a basic income now matter what as long as your income falls below a set level why would people try to get out of this situation?
As more people start collecting this income and less are paying any federal taxes what happens to the tax bill of those paying taxes? Simple each year it will need to be increased to keep up with the ever growing needs of those who are collecting free money.
There is a breaking point in economics as which point you stop production because it's no longer profitable to keep your doors open. This will apply to working people.
As taxes increase and cost of health insurance cost skyrockets people will reach a point that they will just stop working and collect the easy money. Take the free healthcare, free cell phone, free food, free housing, and have an income to use for whatever they want.
Sorry to go off topic a little, but this is the exact problem with using big numbers when we are talking about issues that effect real people. Politicians love to confuse issues with big numbers as people just can't comprehend what they mean and can't possibly comprehend the effects of those big numbers. These number are never broken down into an amount that relates to their life situation.
Cryptogee!
You got my 100% upvote... I just LOVED this post and the idea behind it....
29.7 years and a dollar bill falling on my table each second to be a billionaire... dammit!
That's a LOT.
Thanks for putting things into perspective.
Cheers my friend.
Nope!
But I can see he is earning Millions on Steemit. He is running Easter Eggs and Giveaway competitions which are really interesting.
You are my inspiration and I love what you has been sharing with us.
P.S - Those calculation were so hard, I am feeling dizzy.
You know I could add and multiply when I was 5 years old, I didn't even know numbers that well, after that it has all been downhill, seems I get dumber every day.
Use it or lose it buster! :-)
Cg
My brain's processor was blown away by the numbers that was being used.
What was that again? Oh, I was mind-blown, it made me look life a fool for about 10 seconds after reading that one, then boom! I didn't get it at all, ha-ha... I'll just account 1 to 10, much better 😃
Interesting permutations this. I love to think in number because it always raise hope and is a lot more in interesting.
Thanks for your support @cryptogee. You have being really kind to me
Of course there is always Graham's number...
Well, yeah... Your post makes a lot of sense.
I mean, we don't usually ponder on the huge number that a million or a billion is...
In fact, "numbers are infinite". That's an understantement. I mean, if someone was to count from 1 onwards, what is the max number he would reach before passing out?
And in terms of space, I was thinking about this the other day: We have not reached much far in terms of traveled space, have we? The one probe that has made it as far out from the Sun is Apollo II I think, and it has barely exited the Solar System...! I got to thinking: What if SPACE was not really there? We could not know until we travel it, right? I mean, what if it is some sort of illusion, a mirage, or an optical trick? Haha, I know many will flame me for this. It's all right. They too know they have no way of proving space is as big as they say it is! ;)