How long does it take to count to 1 billion?

Most people can count without much difficulty, but our brains have a limit when math comes into play (insert your little word, dear engineer), and we can't really imagine very large quantities. This is why not only do we not conceive of ourselves counting to 1 billion, but we cannot at first tell how long it would take a person to do.

Let's go by parts and, at first, imagine the count of 1 million, right? Counting one by one out loud would take 23 days to reach that mark, according to research by Karl Smallwood of Today I Found Out.

Smallwood was based on a textbook by David M. Schwartz, which aims to make us visualize large numbers and, despite relying on its sources, has come to the conclusion that this value is not yet correct because it significantly underestimates real time. necessary for a person to complete the thankless task.

How to make?

So we start from the average time each number takes to be pronounced, and then we already have a big problem, after all you take a lot less time to say "two" than to say "thirteen thousand seven hundred and ninety-four." Still, Smallwood worked at an average speed of two seconds per number.

Then, to complicate matters, the guy reminds us that counting relentlessly for hours would end up getting tired, and fatigue could possibly slow us down - so how long would it take a person to count to a million? Well ... The answer to that, thanks to the fierce calculations of a guy named Jeremy Harper, is 89 days!

The best part of this bizarre calculation is not the result, but the method. Do you know how Harper could give us that answer? Counting itself up to 1 million between June 18 and September 14, 2007 - the count was broadcast live to anyone who wanted to keep up. That is commitment, huh!

Can you, Arnaldo?

Harper, who is a software engineer, agreed to take the challenge and, to sleep, eat and basically not die, he obviously didn't spend all this time counting, but on average 16 hours a day, which is already a big insanity.

Counting may be done in less time, of course, but Harper was aware that his body and mind needed rest. In addition, the engineer used the experiment to do charity and, during the countdown, raised $ 12, 000, which was referred to an institution that helps people with disabilities.

By the way, Harper was recognized as the most telling person in all of history and ended up in the Guinness Book for it. After all this time devoting himself to counting at a speed considered fast, Harper said the cameras that monitored him all the time helped him stay lucid. When it came time to say the long-awaited 1 million, Harper lost control and, according to him, it was as if a big bubble burst.

WOW

In 89 days, the brave accountant stayed 1, 424 hours on watch, counting nonstop. Compared to Schwartz's calculations, Harper was 2.6 times slower as it took 5.13 million seconds to complete the mission.

And now that we have this data with empirical evidence, the question is: and how long would it take for a person to count to 1 billion? The account, to be clear, is only an estimate and, starting from the values ​​obtained with the crazy Harper experiment, which was 16 hours a day in the count, we reach the overwhelming total of 5, 126, 400, 000 seconds or 1, 424, 000 hours.

Adding the 8 hours of rest a day, we get an absurd 80, 000 days, which is no less than 244 years - that is, when someone tells you that nothing is impossible, you already know what to answer, right? Counting up to 1 billion is, yes, impossible.

Impossible to count and imagine

And if you think about not taking breaks, know that your life on Earth would still not be enough: without the rest hours, we would need 59, 333 days, which is 163 years.

Do you think the result is great? Well then, calm down, that at this point in the championship we need to consider that the numbers, as they get bigger, take longer to pronounce - or would you say four hundred and thirty nine million seven hundred and fifty four thousand and five hundred and ninety-five that fast?

In fact, because of these huge numbers, the average, with a large margin of error, rises to 6.5 seconds. Then, imagining a scenario of 6 seconds per number, the bill goes to 1, 666, 667 hours, or approximately 285 years. That is, it would take a person between 244 and 285 years to finish the count if he did it for 16 hours a day.

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