文章通过时间转换解释了百万、十亿和万亿等大数概念。一百万秒约等于11.5天,十亿秒约等于31.7年,而一万亿秒则相当于31689年。文章还展示了更高层次的数字单位及其倍数关系,并指出人类难以直观处理如此庞大的数字。 2025-8-5 10:0:0 Author: danielmiessler.com(查看原文) 阅读量:0 收藏
Understanding massive numbers through the lens of time
August 5, 2025
We hear the words million, billion, and trillion quite a bit. And we know that a million is a lot, a billion is a whole lot more, and trillion is even more than that.
But here's a good way to see how big the difference actually is.
How long is a million seconds?
First, let me ask you a question: How long do you think a million seconds is? In terms of days, weeks, years, decades, or whatever.
Turns out it's 11.5 days. That's it. Less than two weeks.
How long is a billion seconds?
Now, how about a billion?
A billion seconds is 31.7 years.
So a million seconds ago was last week, and a billion seconds ago was 1993.
How long is a trillion seconds?
Okay, last one. How long do you think a trillion seconds is?
A trillion seconds is 31,689 years.
A trillion seconds ago, humans were still in the Stone Age. Writing hadn't been invented. Agriculture hadn't been invented. We were hunter-gatherers using basic tools.
The structure and higher levels
As you can see in the image, the pattern here is to multiplication by 1,000—which adds three zeros. Here are the next few levels.
| Name | Zeros | Scientific |
|---|---|---|
| One | 0 | 10⁰ |
| Thousand | 3 | 10³ |
| Million | 6 | 10⁶ |
| Billion | 9 | 10⁹ |
| Trillion | 12 | 10¹² |
| Quadrillion | 15 | 10¹⁵ |
| Quintillion | 18 | 10¹⁸ |
| Sextillion | 21 | 10²¹ |
| Septillion | 24 | 10²⁴ |
| Octillion | 27 | 10²⁷ |
| Nonillion | 30 | 10³⁰ |
| Decillion | 33 | 10³³ |
| Undecillion | 36 | 10³⁶ |
The takeaway
- Big numbers are difficult for the human brain to intuitively process
- As you go up, you're just multiplying by 1,000 and adding three zeros
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