Being a math person, I like the Twitter framing of a million and a billion, and it's true, I think it would surprise most people. Systematic error would be found in this jelly bean guess if examined. I certainly did a double take. A billion is a thousand times greater than a million. So another framing is that, in a fortunate life span of 100 years that is also conveniently a round number, if that is represented as a billion, the million mark is reached at 0.1 years, or 1.2 months. So 5 weeks is to 100 years what a million is to a billion.
When you referenced the 10 places seniors most commonly hide money, since they are hiding it, my first thought was, how do we know? And I thought of estimates where sexual assaults are involved. (What percentage of women are sexually assaulted? What percentage of sexual assaults result in convictions?) The uncertainty will always nag.
I have more storage places than true hiding places, but I would guess the same still holds for them, that a danger is forgetting your choice. I keep a "what is where" folder on my computer, and sheets of paper with my various passwords (I will blame my lack of consistency on the increasing requirements for complexity.) But maybe this isn't spoken as a true paranoid.
Hiding is an interesting in-between state. There's a distinction between hiding and destroying. Just as the person who hides money wants to have access to it, if you hide a secret vice, you are not giving it up. You want the best of both worlds: the thing, but not the public acknowledgment of it.
Being a math person, I like the Twitter framing of a million and a billion, and it's true, I think it would surprise most people. Systematic error would be found in this jelly bean guess if examined. I certainly did a double take. A billion is a thousand times greater than a million. So another framing is that, in a fortunate life span of 100 years that is also conveniently a round number, if that is represented as a billion, the million mark is reached at 0.1 years, or 1.2 months. So 5 weeks is to 100 years what a million is to a billion.
When you referenced the 10 places seniors most commonly hide money, since they are hiding it, my first thought was, how do we know? And I thought of estimates where sexual assaults are involved. (What percentage of women are sexually assaulted? What percentage of sexual assaults result in convictions?) The uncertainty will always nag.
I have more storage places than true hiding places, but I would guess the same still holds for them, that a danger is forgetting your choice. I keep a "what is where" folder on my computer, and sheets of paper with my various passwords (I will blame my lack of consistency on the increasing requirements for complexity.) But maybe this isn't spoken as a true paranoid.
Hiding is an interesting in-between state. There's a distinction between hiding and destroying. Just as the person who hides money wants to have access to it, if you hide a secret vice, you are not giving it up. You want the best of both worlds: the thing, but not the public acknowledgment of it.
What a particularly interesting essay on language and culture!
an essay!