There are 20 quadrillion ants on Earth. How do we make sense of a number like that?

Scientists estimate that there are 20 quadrillion ants on Earth. But. How do we make sense of a number like that, like 20,000,000,000,000,000? This hour, how we relate to unimaginable numbers, both large and small. Plus: why our inability to conceptualize large numbers might have a real-world impact during times like a pandemic. GUESTS: Shabnam Mousavi: A scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and a senior scientist at the Center for Artificial Intelligence Sabine Nooten: An insect ecologist and a temporary principal investigator at the University of Würzburg Elizabeth Toomarian: Director of the Brainwave Learning Center at Synapse School and an educational neuroscience Researcher at Stanford University Edward Tufte: The author of five books on information design and data visualization The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired January 12, 2023.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.