Contest - What's the largest number you can think of?
- Thread starter corvidae
- Start date
Oh no. Not that. Okay. I assume you don't mean only integers by large number, and that you don't allow cardinal numbers. Actually, nvm, I'm gonna stick with integers, because I feel like a very nice person today.
Ha! Smileys overcome spoilers!
g=googolplex // 12 symbols
a[n]b-hyper operator // 20 symbols
f(x,y,z,t)=f(f(x-1,y,z,t),f(x-1,y,z,t),f(x-1,y,z,t),t-1) if x,y,z,t>2, ow: f=x[y]z // 82 symbols*
h(x)=f(h(x-1),h(x-1),h(x-1),h(x-1)) if x>0, ow: h=f(g,g,g,g) // 60 symbols*
h(g) // 4 symbols
The rest of the 500 symbols I'd use to explain why this is useless, but I'm not in the mood right now to give it a good scorn.
*I realize y=z everywhere in my use of f, so the same can be done with a 3-argument function and reduce the length, but let's leave it for clarity.
a[n]b-hyper operator // 20 symbols
f(x,y,z,t)=f(f(x-1,y,z,t),f(x-1,y,z,t),f(x-1,y,z,t),t-1) if x,y,z,t>2, ow: f=x[y]z // 82 symbols*
h(x)=f(h(x-1),h(x-1),h(x-1),h(x-1)) if x>0, ow: h=f(g,g,g,g) // 60 symbols*
h(g) // 4 symbols
The rest of the 500 symbols I'd use to explain why this is useless, but I'm not in the mood right now to give it a good scorn.
*I realize y=z everywhere in my use of f, so the same can be done with a 3-argument function and reduce the length, but let's leave it for clarity.
.........................................
............................................
.............................
.........................................
............................................
..........................
Last edited:
I think ENFP wins. I played around with hyperoperators in math class while zoning out. I gave up at around 3↑↑3.
Also, translation for less mathematically inclined people (and for my own sake):
googol = 10^100
googolplex = 10^googol = 10^10^100
call googolplex "g".
hyper operators are a way of writing extremely large numbers which would otherwise be difficult. For example
3↑4 = 3*3*3*3 = 81. Not too bad, no need for hyper-operators. In fact, it's the same as 3^4 but...
3↑↑4 = 3↑3↑3↑3 = 3^7,625,597,484,987 = 3*3*3*3*3*3*3... 7,625,597,484,987 times.
g↑g = googolplex^googolplex
g↑↑g = g↑g↑g↑g↑g↑g....... googolplex times
But what if you want more arrows? How about googolplex arrows?
This is the part where I got lost. I think ENFP did something like 2↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑(googolplex arrows)↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑googolplex
Looks like I have a lot to learn before majoring in math, lol
Also, translation for less mathematically inclined people (and for my own sake):
googol = 10^100
googolplex = 10^googol = 10^10^100
call googolplex "g".
hyper operators are a way of writing extremely large numbers which would otherwise be difficult. For example
3↑4 = 3*3*3*3 = 81. Not too bad, no need for hyper-operators. In fact, it's the same as 3^4 but...
3↑↑4 = 3↑3↑3↑3 = 3^7,625,597,484,987 = 3*3*3*3*3*3*3... 7,625,597,484,987 times.
g↑g = googolplex^googolplex
g↑↑g = g↑g↑g↑g↑g↑g....... googolplex times
But what if you want more arrows? How about googolplex arrows?
This is the part where I got lost. I think ENFP did something like 2↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑(googolplex arrows)↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑googolplex
Looks like I have a lot to learn before majoring in math, lol
*runs home crying*
I don't think that exists...
I guess a better phrase would be "A number definable a priori". For example, If there are 10 billion grains of sand on beach X, you can say "10 billion", but not "the number of grains of sand on beach X"