User blog comment:MachineGunSuper/Help/@comment-30754445-20171215035722

It's not a stupid question.

It's actually a great question, which shows that you've finally realized that "big numbers" are... well... numbers, and not just strangely named items. To be honest, I was wondering when you'll make this transition, and I'm happy to see you got through. Welcome to Level 2 :-)

At any rate, when analyzing a number, it is useful to break it up into "pieces" and rank them from strongest to weakest. As a really simple example, if I ask you how big is:

A = 7.31x10861

Then you know that the main thing here is the power of 10 (861). So we can approximate this as:

A ~ 10861

Similarly, when have:

B = 1000000 [quadrillion arrows] 1000000

Then we can break this number to three parts:

(1) The number arrows, which is 1015

(2) The number after the arrows, which is 1000000

(3) The number before the arrows, which is also 1000000

So as an estimate of size, we can ignore (2) and (3) and simply say that this number is at the "oh, about a quadrillion arrows category" (case in point: 3 [quadrillion+1 arrows] 3 would be much bigger than B).

And if you're wondering what "the n arrows category" means in the grand scheme of things, perhaps you'll find my letter notation useful: "n arrows" can be written as Jn (generally, the further down the alphabet the letter is, the bigger the numbers).

And as a final example, just for kicks, let's look at your Epsillion:

C = fε 9+googol (10) = fφ(1,9)+googol(10). This is much more complicated, but the same basic idea still applies: We break the notation up into parts and order them from strongest to weakest:

1. φ(1,9).

2. φ(1,9).

3. +googol in the subscript (would still be in this place if it was merely "+1")

4. The 10 in the end.

In the grand scheme of things, we can ignore everything besides the first (strongest) part, and say that this is a "φ(1,n) level number". In my letter notation this would correspond to the beginning of the R2 range (the epsillion would be at around R2.0291)

Oh, and if this final bit confused you, don't feel too bad. By invoking that 'ε' you've delved into quite advanced territory which you're not quite ready for yet. You've basically just started treating these mysterious objects as actual numbers a few hours ago, so give yourself some time. Continue to ask questions... and don't forget to enjoy the process! Eventually, you'll get there.