Napkin Math Tool

jstanley · 2025-03-21T14:03:16 1742565796

How do you make use of it? Is it basically logarithms of values? So add them together to multiply them? I don't know if I quite understand how the units would work.

As an example, "how long would it take for everyone in a large high school to microwave their meals if they all did it sequentially?".

People in a large high school is *4* (let's say about 3000 people).

Microwaving a meal is *2* (let's say 5 minutes).

So by Napkin Math we get 4+2=*6* which is a *large metropolitan area*.

Oops. I mean 11.6 days.

And with normal multiplication, 3000 * 5 = 10.4 days, so 11.6 days is a pretty good estimate.

So I think the answer is indeed "add the numbers together to multiply them", and be careful that you understand what units you're using.

great_wubwub · 2025-03-21T14:19:44 1742566784

Yeah, 'tool' here is a little generous. "list of order of magnitude of some things" is more like it

cobertos · 2025-03-21T14:25:22 1742567122

Always thought something like this would be really nifty if paired in real-time with quantities we interact with in a daily basis.

Oh, it was a large scam? Hundreds of people participated? Basically if an extended family reunion or apartment building full of people. Not as hard to imagine.

The hope would be to better calibrate our own magnitude of reactions against the numbers we see

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