the need for 64 bits

[Mensanator]

On Dec 28, 9:04 pm, Roy Smith <r... at panix.com> wrote:
> In article <034921cf$0$1277$c3e8... at news.astraweb.com>,
>  Steven D'Aprano <st... at REMOVE-THIS-cybersource.com.au> wrote:
>
> > On Sun, 27 Dec 2009 22:50:11 -0800, Mensanator wrote:
>
> > > I routinely use large numbers in my Collatz Conjecture work.
>
> > > Really large. As in a quarter million bits.
>
> > That's not large. *THIS* is a large number:
>
> >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham's_number
>
> > Unless you need special notation merely to describe how to generate the
> > number, it's not a large number.
>
> And then, after 'e was done nailing my head to the floor, he said,
> "Consider an n-dimensional hypercube".  It was at that point that I knew he
> was talking about a really big number.

I remember it more like:

And then, after 'e was done nailing my head to the floor, he said,
"Consider an n-dimensional hypercube, Eric".  It was at that point
that I knew he
was talking about a really big number, so I said "My names not Eric."