Sometimes it's fun to bask in the unimaginable largeness of really big numbers: a googolplex, power towers, Knuth's up-arrow notation.
How big can we go? There's something called the Fast-growing hierarchy[0] that quickly makes even anything expressed with Knuth's up-arrow notation completely puny.
Not only do Really Big Numbers™ tickle some childlike fancy in us, but a sharp exploration of them actually cuts into some deep questions about the foundations of math.
This 46 video playlist is the most in-depth and accessible exploration of the depths this rabbit-hole goes that I know.
2 comments
[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 13.8 ms ] threadHow big can we go? There's something called the Fast-growing hierarchy[0] that quickly makes even anything expressed with Knuth's up-arrow notation completely puny.
Not only do Really Big Numbers™ tickle some childlike fancy in us, but a sharp exploration of them actually cuts into some deep questions about the foundations of math.
This 46 video playlist is the most in-depth and accessible exploration of the depths this rabbit-hole goes that I know.
[0]:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast-growing_hierarchy
Thanks for posting.