Eon

Worlds largest number

Some entities are small, but numerous. Some are incredibly high, but only rarely used. However, both ends are necessary, and we need the full spectrum.

Is it possible to touch the sky, while keeping your feet firmly grounded? At least one may attempt it, so here's my suggestion:

EON

I would like to suggest the Eon.

An Eon consists of 10 times 10,
as a sequence of rising powers:


         10
        10
       10
      10
     10
    10
   10
  10
 10
10


Normally powers of a number imply only one level. But here's an example with two levels:

2 in the power of 81 equals a number with 25 digits. Results quickly hit the sky when powers are rising...

A kind of stairway

Maybe a stairway is a suitable metaphor; it needs the ground to remain stable. But if it didn't reach a higher level, it would be pointless.

I have not chosen any specific number, only used our numerical base: 10. This number is reused to determine the number of levels. (Furthermore it is written with the simplest digits, 0 og 1.)

Finally, 10 is understood intuitively: 10^N is a number with N digits. Only our base number makes life that easy. Try this example, and you'll see:

Which of these two are the larger: 4⁵ or 5⁴..?

Any larger..?

A number greater than an Eon should not only be larger, but equally simple. Surely 11 instead of 10 would go further, but paying with our sense of size.

Adding 1 to Eon would also be more, but again at the cost of simplicity. An Eon requires only one number (10), and only one operation (power). Eon+1 requires two numbers (10,1) and two operations (power,addition). Complexity doubles, but the gain is microscopic.


Mads Dam, february 2006


PS: The center image is not a diagram, but the artists impression. So, you'll find no mathematical clues hiding, but hopefully a sense of infinity...