yosefblog contest #(TBA): Who can name the biggest number?
You have fifteen seconds. Using standard math notation, English words, or both, name a single whole number—not an infinity—on a blank index card. Be precise enough for any reasonable modern mathematician to determine exactly what number you’ve named, by consulting only your card and, if necessary, the published literature.
Be honest (after all, nothing is at stake here except pride) and don’t read the comments (i.e. other people’s entries) until you’ve done your own. I’m abstaining from this contest so as to not risk losing. 15 seconds is up.
March 15th, 2006 at 7:10 pm
i don’t get it, but my answer would be googleplex being that i do love google and i’m sure their headquarters is very nice.
March 16th, 2006 at 11:08 am
mine was (Z to the Z to the Z to the Z …) base 36. by the time i thought of it, i only got 8 ‘z’s on the page… perhaps a mediocre attempt, but at least i didn’t abstain for fear of shame. also, i’m too lazy to figure out exactly how big that turns out to be. -MM
March 16th, 2006 at 11:30 am
if only i had spike’s aptitude to name within an instant an enormous number. but to have kept my “z”s and also have written z = googleplex!
March 16th, 2006 at 8:58 pm
once you’ve given your own attempt, read this
March 17th, 2006 at 5:13 pm
I think it’s cheating to say infinity - 1, but that’s my answer.
March 17th, 2006 at 5:17 pm
Okay, since the holder of the contest is right here, he’s making me rescind my answer. Fine. I know it’s an infinite #. I said it was cheating. Okay, fine. Uh…I give, the kids are crying. I feel like Harrison Bergeron’s dad.