{"id":826,"date":"2008-05-14T20:37:37","date_gmt":"2008-05-15T00:37:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/?p=826"},"modified":"2008-05-14T20:39:04","modified_gmt":"2008-05-15T00:39:04","slug":"making-the-numbers-mean-something","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/2008\/05\/14\/making-the-numbers-mean-something\/","title":{"rendered":"Making the Numbers Mean Something"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve been thinking a lot about big numbers, lately. The 6,000 that accompanied the first reports of the cyclone in Burma was something I could sort of wrap my head around. I could picture 6,000 people. I could understand that 6,000 – coming from the military government running the place – probably meant that it was a lot more. But I wasn’t sure how many more. It seems to be rising exponentially. The Red Cross’ warning of 128,000<\/a> just surpassed my imagination.<\/p>\n

And then the earthquake in China hit, and I first heard 10,000. We’re used to big numbers in everything from China, but it was still clearly a massive event. And as that number was rising today, I was trying to fathom it. How did it compare to the events in Burma? What would it be like if it happened here in the US?<\/p>\n

Turns out, I was reaching for the wrong end of this. All I needed to do was understand a very small number. In this case, it was just 3. How so? Listen to this short NPR audio report<\/a> from the ground in Sichuan, in which Melissa Block accompanies two parents looking for their two year old son. Don’t read, don’t look. Just listen<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve been thinking a lot about big numbers, lately. The 6,000 that accompanied the first reports of the cyclone in Burma was something I could sort of wrap my head around. I could picture 6,000 people. I could understand that 6,000 – coming from the military government running the place – probably meant that it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":4,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-personal","category-society"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t