You Are The Center of The Universe (Literally)

Summary

The transcript poetically explores the concept of scale, positioning humans in the middle between the extremely large and small. It moves from the relatable, like buildings and hummingbirds, to the extremes of the universe and subatomic particles. Throughout this journey between the unimaginably massive and minute, it notes the parallels and interconnections, marveling at the coincidence of humans existing at just the right size to comprehend both. It concludes by bringing things back down to Earth, encouraging listeners to make informed donations to effective charities.

Takeaways

• 😲 You are in the middle between the smallest things we know of like quarks and the entire observable universe
• 😮 The universe seems to be exactly the right size with you in the middle
• 🤔 A tiny virus is taking over and killing lung cells 500 times larger than itself
• 🌌 On the large end we have mind-bogglingly large things like the diameter of the entire observable universe
• 🔬 On the small end we have strange things like quarks constantly popping in and out of existence
• 😵‍💫 Concepts like the size of a quark or the observible universe are almost impossible for human minds to truly comprehend
• 🐜 A giant ant colony has no queen but instead members ruthlessly compete for status, kind of like corporations
• 🕳️ There are incredible parallels between networks of blood vessels in your body and networks of roads in a city
• ❤️ GiveWell helps donors make informed decisions about high-impact charitable giving in areas like global health
• 🙏 Over 100,000 donors have used GiveWell to donate over $1 billion to save over 150,000 lives

Q & A

How tall is a 3 story building compared to a human?

A 3 story building is about 10 meters tall, which is 6 times bigger than a human.

What is an example of something 6 times smaller than a human?

A cute squirrel is an example, which would be about 27 centimeters small.

How do the sizes of a Rufous hummingbird and an A320 jet liner compare to a human?

They are both about 23 times bigger or smaller than a human - the tiny hummingbird is 7 cm long and the jet is 37 meters.

If a Rufous hummingbird was as big as an A320 jet, how far could it fly in a year?

If it was jet-sized, the hummingbird could circle the Earth 85 times per year.

How big are the colonies of Dinoponera ants compared to humans?

Their colonies can reach 1.2 meters deep, which is 55 times smaller than a human.

How do the sizes of mosquitos and the Empire State Building compare to humans?

Mosquitos are 235 times smaller while the Empire State Building is about 235 times bigger.

What are some examples of things 500-550,000 times smaller or bigger than humans?

Examples are sand grains (550x smaller), the Burj Khalifa tower (500x bigger), a skin cell (100,000x smaller), and the Tokyo metro area (100,000x bigger).

How do the networks of highways/roads in a city compare to networks of blood vessels in the human body?

They are permeating systems about 6000 times bigger or smaller than a human, so we are right in the middle between them in scale.

What spans a range in size from over 7 million times bigger than a human down to 0.3 micrometers across?

The Earth at 12,700 km diameter down to bacteria like Corynebacterium living on our skin.

What natural examples show humans right in the middle of the very large and very small?

The Sun and DNA - the Sun is a billion times bigger as the source of life while DNA strands contain the code for human life and are a billion times smaller.