It’s difficult for humans to grasp large numbers. We just had no need to do so in our evolutionary past. Today, however, understanding large numbers is useful to forming an accurate picture of the world around us. From the national debt to populations of nations to distances between cities and planets, large numbers are now a more relevant part of our lives.
To date, the COVID-19 pandemic has killed about 1,120,000 people worldwide. Here in the United States, about 220,000 have passed, equaling about 20% of all who have passed due to the virus (the U.S. has about 4% of the world’s population.) Since 220,000 is a large number, I’d like to show how much 220,000 really is. Here are 220,000 dots.
