Special Experiment: The Graham's Number Challenge

Introduction to the Experiment: 

Now, let's try a different scenario. You will live for Graham's number of years. This is not forever, but it's a number so vast that the human brain cannot truly comprehend it. In this universe, every star would have died trillions of years before your life ended. It's functionally infinite from a human perspective, but with a definite end.

Discussion Questions for the Experiment:

How does knowing your life has an end (even after Graham's number of years) change your plans compared to true immortality?

The end of your life is so far away it's meaningless, but it will happen. Does this thought bring you comfort, or a different kind of anxiety compared to immortality?

Compare the two scenarios: After thinking about both, which one would you prefer: true immortality or a Graham's number-year lifespan? Explain your choice.

Key Difference: What is the most significant difference between the two, in your opinion? Is it the concept of an ending, no matter how distant?

Hi everyone! I realized something after posting the topic — I might have jumped the gun by assuming everyone is familiar with Graham‘s number! 😅 So, here‘s a super simple explanation to make sure we‘re all on the same page: Graham‘s number​ is an incredibly, unimaginably large number that mathematicians use. It’s so large that:

You cannot write it out in full using all the atoms in the observable universe.
Your brain cannot truly comprehend its size — it’s not just “a billion billion”; it’s on a totally different level. Why it’s relevant to our topic:​ We’re not just talking about living for a “long time” like 1,000 or 1 million years. Graham‘s number of years is a time span so vast that it makes the entire history of our universe seem like a single blink.​ Yet, it is still a finitenumber, which is very different from infiniteforever. So, for our discussion, just think of it as: “A finite amount of time that is so long, it might as well be forever from a human perspective — but mathematically, it does have an end.” Don‘t worry about the complex math! The fun part is to think about the idea​ of such an impossibly long lifespan. How would you feel? What would you do?