Forum:The largest computable number spec

Hi! I'm not a regular contributor to this Wiki and didn't think it appropriate to edit directly.

My contribution to XKCD's "My number is bigger" thread was acknowledged by some other posters as having probably won the thread; the thread rules specified that number specifications had to be computable (no Busy Beavers or beyond) and could not make use of a previously defined number. I also gave an argument for why my number was the largest kind of computable specification for a finite integer that could be constructed using current mathematical technology, at least until someone invents more powerful large cardinal axioms or a different approach.

http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?p=3254229#p3254229

Throwing it here so somebody can put it on the Wiki if they consider that interesting. -- Eliezer Yudkowsky