Tell HN: Guess how thick would a piece of paper be if it was folded 50 times

4 points

15 years ago

When I heard the answer, it was completely mind-blowing. It makes logical sense if you sit down and think about it, but it is by no means intuitive.

I went around my school asking people how thick they thought it would be. Answers ranged from a few centimeters to a meter to a mile. One person was a lot more in the ball range after doing a quick calculation estimate in his head. However, it is still quite obvious that none of us can understand or truly comprehend exponential growth.

Anyways, after you've made a guess about what you think the answer is, find out the actual thickness here: http://www.quora.com/What-are-some-of-the-most-mind-blowing-facts/all_comments/Jeremy-Richardson

7 comments