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Tue 23 Sep, 2003 05:09 pm
What's the largest named number you can think of????????
(infinity doesnt count)
There is no "largest number you can think of." No matter what number you think of, you can simply imagine it increased by one or multiplied by ten. And then you can imagine doing the same thing to THAT number. And so on, to infinity.
well no mater how large i can always add on. so it it fruitless.
Seeing as this is Philosophy and Debate, I would cast my vote for zero, aka 0, as it has the power to multiply any number infinitely. It's "largeness" is inherent in it's power, mathematically.
cav
now that was a great answer. and so was pi ceili.
both of you really thought about it.
The largest number with a name?
A googol is a 1 followed by 100 zeros.
With a Name
I should have said "largest number with a name"
so far googal wins it, but there is a number called a Googol Plex. This is a one followed by a Googol zeros. almost to big to comprehend. In fact, there is not enough paper on the planet to write the number out. Not even enough computer microchips in the world to even WRITE THE NUMBER, let alone to make a database with a Googol Plex dots on it.
But this still isnt the biggest named number...
I'm told that the largest number a human being can accurately hold in their mind, that is, imagine in a concrete way, is about nine. After that it becomes "many"...
As far as the largest number one can name, that's a silly question -- as has been said, it's googolplex+n...
p.s. for most purposes, dyslexic is right. 42.
googolplex
Sorry for the confusion....the question isnt to list the largest number you can name....its the largest number that has A name. slightly different.
Also, i seem to be able to concretely think of numbers larger than 9. I can imagine a group of beer cans set in a square shape with 4 cans on each side. So i am thinking fairly concretely of 16 items. If i try to do this with 25 cans, its a little fuzzier....
Now you've got me thinking about beer.....i'll be back later.
Greg
Greg, I understand about the beer. But when I do four cans on a side, I can see the sides but the middle gets muzzy, or I see the middle but not all of the corners. I'll have to see if I can find the exact reference...
Unless I find some beer first...
Beer
I agree, Wy, 16 cans is not easy. but i'm pretty sure i can picture it when i relax and think about it. Try 12. Start with 9 and add another line of three on the top. That I can do more reliably.
forget it the largets number i know is bizillion. and i don't think that is a real number. i don't even know how many zero's it has.
Googleplex to the power of googleplex.
That's as high as I dare.
nope
as i stated at the begining of this thread...infinity doesnt count.
I guess I could go with infinity to the power of infinity, but it sure would make me acrophobic... :wink:
Re: nope
skeptic wrote:as i stated at the begining of this thread...infinity doesnt count.
No... you just can't count to infinity.
Actually, cavfancier sort of beat me to it. Zero. Actually 1/0 ...
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