Thanks – I didn’t realise that I was thinking in computer billions (2³⁰) when I did the arithmetic, but you’re right.

The trouble with turning a trillion into 31,709 years is that no-one is going to feel the significance of that amount of time – beyond “big”. With something like 32 years you can say “that’s how long ago I bought my first microcomputer” – and really feel the scale.

And if you had a trillion dollars in debt, it would take you 31,709 years to pay. Now that’s a perspective.

Interesting contrast in visualization ability, Jonathan. I have managed to overflow my swimming pool with a garden hose, after observing fill rate and approximating EOF. Then letting myself get sucked into the computer.

The fact that both you guys can teach people with such a variety of learning styles is just amazing. That is the true meaning of guru.

I thought it was interesting that he didn’t push the analogy to the full 85 billion, as that would have moved the time-frame out to 3,000 years which, I think, would have made it incomprehensible again.

I can’t visualized an olympic swimming pool, and certainly not filled with dollar bills – then I find it hard to imagine 539 of them, even thought it’s “only” 20 x 27.

On the other hand I can imagine counting out dollars one per second, and I can recognise 34 years as a big chunk of my life – which happens to be my whole life up to the time my daughter was born.