Sunday, January 31, 2010

Coco, Googolplex and G64

Today Coco and I went for a walk. Coco is 5 about to turn 6. At one point, we ended up in front of the locked front gate of our friend Jimmy's house. Coco wanted to ring and go in for a play date. I didn't. Coco decided to use an argument settling technique which her parents had learned (and thereafter rather warped) from marriage counselors Les and Leslie Parrott. She asked "Dad, how much out of 10 do you want to *not* ring and ask for a playdate?" I answered

B: "10 (this is one of the two typical answers to this question in our household), and how much out of 10 do you want to ring and have a playdate?"

C: "Googolplex" (this is in the vein of the other typical answer in our household)

B: "Coco, do you realize that even most adults don't know what a googolplex is?"

B: (to a middle age couple walking by) "Excuse me, do you know what a googolplex is?"

Strangers: "No--what is it?"

B: "It's a very large number"

Strangers: (with look which seems to communicate "You are one wierd cookie") "Ok, thank you for that."

B: "Coco, did you know that there's a number even bigger than googolplex?"

C: "No, you said that was the biggest number."

B: "Oh, did I? Well I learned a bigger one. It's called G64"

C: "Oh, OK, I want G64 out of 10 to ring and have a playdate"

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