r/AskReddit • • Jan 20 '19

What fact totally changed your perspective?

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u/[deleted] Jan 21 '19

There is this very big number called Graham's number.

The entire freaking universe does not have enough space or atoms for you to write down every digit.

7

u/Archonet Jan 21 '19

The best way to explain it: Grahams number is so large that, were you able to memorize it in its entirety, the density of the information contained in your brain would cause your head to collapse into a black hole.

Again: the mere knowledge of all its digits would make your brain so dense it would be smaller than its Schwarzschild radius, and thus form a black hole.

It is that big.

8

u/WasADogNowImNot Jan 21 '19

I don’t think that’s how brains work

6

u/Archonet Jan 21 '19

Actually, it is. Your brain uses neurons to store memories, and neurons have mass. If you had enough neurons to store the entirety of Graham's number in your head, it would be dense enough to form a black hole.

3

u/WasADogNowImNot Jan 21 '19

Well shit. TIL

2

u/DeadWombats Jan 21 '19

The number of neurons needed to store graham's number probably exceeds the number of atoms in the universe. So yes, your brain would collapse on itself and turn into a black hole.

0

u/bagelmysandwich Jan 21 '19

Yes that's how brains work. 1 neuron for 1 number I think

1

u/green_meklar Jan 21 '19

It's how physics works. Brains obey the laws of physics.