But why is any of this important? I sincerely believe that there is more to this post than me just writing down very large numbers, and saying “look how ridiculously, gobsmackingly large that number is!”
Because that number of 10^(30 billion) is more than an idle mathematical result. It suggests the potential of the new world that has opened to us with the advent of the internet. Although the everyone-to-everyone approximation that I made to perform these calculations is a bit unrealistic, it gets less so with each passing year. And I believe that this was Ravikant’s point in the quote at the top of this post.
Whether we have realized it or not, the internet has opened up access to a combinatorially enormous space of possible projects, collaborations, businesses, groups, and friendships. We spend a considerable amount of time at one another’s throats, but if we could stop and take stock for a moment, perhaps we would see the universe of possibilities that awaits us at our fingertips at all times.
Think of the technologies that could be found by even partially mining this space of collaborations. The art. The science. The love. The wealth to be found for us all, especially those who need it most.
Sometimes I find it hard to imagine that the future will be good. It can be hard to see where we can go from here as a species. But this little exercise is actually helpful check on that pessimism. I’m not saying that we will necessarily maximize our potential, but there is plenty of room up there for us to get started :)
Thanks for reading my blog!
-Matt
P.S. I originally heard the Ravikant quote in this Meaningwave song by the inimitable Akira the Don.