How Metric Paper Works & The Whole of the Universe

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 พ.ย. 2024

ความคิดเห็น • 19K

  • @samueloconner1482
    @samueloconner1482 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6391

    I've seen many scale of the universe videos but never one that was filled with such a sense of cosmic horror

    • @sarah12232
      @sarah12232 3 ปีที่แล้ว +124

      try the video on size of black holes by kurzgesagt

    • @virtualashez
      @virtualashez 3 ปีที่แล้ว +48

      And paper.

    • @eg_manifest510
      @eg_manifest510 3 ปีที่แล้ว +109

      same, he perfectly encapsulates that feeling of innate, inescapable dread
      he should be a horror writer

    • @1989Nihil
      @1989Nihil 3 ปีที่แล้ว +40

      Indeed, this video was soo deep I got a paper-cut from it.

    • @lorrainewilliams7896
      @lorrainewilliams7896 3 ปีที่แล้ว +22

      This was positively uplifting compared to Kurzgesagt.

  • @lucystarlight8887
    @lucystarlight8887 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4111

    I'm not sure what this video was supposed to teach me but I'll be more careful around paper from now on

    • @AmphiStuG
      @AmphiStuG 3 ปีที่แล้ว +68

      Be afraid, for the forever lost consciousness of a tree now has the infinite power of the metric system, it’s forever expanding laws and space seek for either the simple destruction of our very existence, or the complete replacement of all matter that exists or ever will exist. Be afraid... be afraid.

    • @aura_flower3385
      @aura_flower3385 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@AmphiStuG, uhh what? Explain in simpler terms please?

    • @aura_flower3385
      @aura_flower3385 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @laith, nope, I got nothing srry

    • @aura_flower3385
      @aura_flower3385 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @laith, oh wow. Ok then

    • @matthewhale1572
      @matthewhale1572 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@aura_flower3385 it was a joke

  • @LGR
    @LGR 3 ปีที่แล้ว +34185

    ...so I'm honestly impressed metric paper folds in half to the same ratio.

    • @vilmarmoccelin
      @vilmarmoccelin 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3400

      Welcome to the magical world of metric thinking... They're trying to connect everything.

    • @Melesniannon
      @Melesniannon 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3765

      That one is pretty common knowledge for anyone who's worked with any kind of office supplies, you'll typically see A4 all over the place, A5 a fair bit, some A3. What made me go "Wha, really?" is that A0 is exactly 1 square metre.

    • @_.luminosity._
      @_.luminosity._ 3 ปีที่แล้ว +75

      very cool

    • @damianpulido4712
      @damianpulido4712 3 ปีที่แล้ว +414

      Fibonacci Fibonacci Fibonacci

    • @damianpulido4712
      @damianpulido4712 3 ปีที่แล้ว +277

      I know it's not the Fibonacci sequence exactly but it looks similar enough

  • @juancuelloespinosa
    @juancuelloespinosa 2 ปีที่แล้ว +9539

    I always find it interesting that there are more subdivisions down than we have doublings up. the planck length is at 226, where the observable universe ends at 184

    • @bioemiliano
      @bioemiliano 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1360

      Yeah, we are in the larger part of the middle of everything.

    • @zanorok5896
      @zanorok5896 2 ปีที่แล้ว +317

      Well I mean it's based off a piece of paper so that doesn't really mean much tbh

    • @Qaptyl
      @Qaptyl 2 ปีที่แล้ว +705

      proportionally, our cells are in the middle

    • @TheBswan
      @TheBswan 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1303

      @@zanorok5896 sure it does; it means that on a log scale from planck length to observable universe, a piece of paper is on the larger half of that scale. Many people might find that surprising, as the person who commented that did.

    • @superbnotsuperB
      @superbnotsuperB 2 ปีที่แล้ว +145

      226-184=42
      2^42=4 trillion😳
      2^226=107 unvigintillion
      2^184=24 septendecillion

  • @The-Rest-of-Us
    @The-Rest-of-Us 3 ปีที่แล้ว +44877

    I came here for light entertainment.
    I left with an existential crisis.

    • @atchaaa
      @atchaaa 3 ปีที่แล้ว +253

      yep

    • @rovsea-3761
      @rovsea-3761 3 ปีที่แล้ว +576

      You need not fear an existential crisis such as this. Personally, I find it almost more freeing that we may be utterly insignificant in the scale of the universe, observable or otherwise. I think it allows us to set our own limits, our own expectations, rather than trying to find some sort of universal expectation of what should be.

    • @YouTubeGetsWorseEveryUpdate
      @YouTubeGetsWorseEveryUpdate 3 ปีที่แล้ว +337

      Well, there is mostly nothing to worry about.

    • @blagoevski336
      @blagoevski336 3 ปีที่แล้ว +17

      Lol

    • @AMA-Online
      @AMA-Online 3 ปีที่แล้ว +60

      Part of me agrees with you but the other part is left infinitely hopeful.

  • @donatoliotino1872
    @donatoliotino1872 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2565

    It's sad CGP Grey had to leave the observable universe to make this.

    • @LeoStaley
      @LeoStaley 3 ปีที่แล้ว +45

      Ya but he came back

    • @xnob_1670
      @xnob_1670 3 ปีที่แล้ว +33

      His rocket must have been huge

    • @devaorios5793
      @devaorios5793 3 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      this is gold wooosh bait

    • @uknownada
      @uknownada 3 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      Yet he didn't tell us what he found there. He told us mostly nothing.

    • @thegreatestchigone5813
      @thegreatestchigone5813 3 ปีที่แล้ว +32

      @@uknownadait’s cause he discovered the universe aren’t hexagons

  • @QuarterLifeCrises
    @QuarterLifeCrises 3 ปีที่แล้ว +14769

    Normal people: "hey A4 sheets fold in half and maintain the exact ratio. Cool!"
    CGPGrey, having his fifth existential crisis this week: "Everything is mostly nothing."

    • @oliverhumphreys8141
      @oliverhumphreys8141 3 ปีที่แล้ว +21

      why

    • @sheeloesreallycool
      @sheeloesreallycool 3 ปีที่แล้ว +143

      @@oliverhumphreys8141 Who knows? Why have we done anything? Why do we focus so much on this size of paper when there are planets that must be discovered? People to meet? We could’ve done so much, but our own limits we have created have stopped us.

    • @oliverhumphreys8141
      @oliverhumphreys8141 3 ปีที่แล้ว +23

      @@sheeloesreallycool ah

    • @alamrasyidi4097
      @alamrasyidi4097 3 ปีที่แล้ว +33

      "It all~ returns~ to nothing~"

    • @dethor6251
      @dethor6251 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      @@sheeloesreallycool human knowlage and curiosity what else

  • @EmC5133
    @EmC5133 ปีที่แล้ว +4541

    Paper getting infinitely small: Has an existential crisis
    Paper getting infinitely big: *Has an existential crisis*

    • @jsblacksmith858
      @jsblacksmith858 18 วันที่ผ่านมา

      man i watched this high

  • @ChadrickNurn
    @ChadrickNurn 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2404

    "I need a way of describing reality"
    *looks down at blank paper*
    "I've got it!"
    -CGP Grey, overcoming writers block by embracing it

    • @geordonworley5618
      @geordonworley5618 3 ปีที่แล้ว +42

      Writers block...metric paper...metric block!

    • @Fosifar
      @Fosifar 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      great

    • @user-yc3tf4wz2x
      @user-yc3tf4wz2x 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    • @BatCostumeGuy
      @BatCostumeGuy 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Batman

    • @vigilantcosmicpenguin8721
      @vigilantcosmicpenguin8721 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      A blank sheet of paper has always been inspiring, but it takes a certain kind of mind to see it in a different way.

  • @FetenWuWa
    @FetenWuWa 3 ปีที่แล้ว +14807

    Came for cool paper facts.
    Left with existential dread.

    • @chriku
      @chriku 3 ปีที่แล้ว +200

      now imagine looking at A4 every single day!

    • @Spartan-Four-Twenty
      @Spartan-Four-Twenty 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      Dido

    • @edvardsauzins7041
      @edvardsauzins7041 3 ปีที่แล้ว +67

      I don't think living is important anymore... maybe it's all... maybe everything we do is for nothing.. maybe there's no point in living at all.

    • @GreenFoxLuama
      @GreenFoxLuama 3 ปีที่แล้ว +76

      @@edvardsauzins7041 , but however, you only live once. You only get to experience your own existence for only one time, so try to live happily, make the most of it and don't be an asshole to anyone around you

    • @dahemac
      @dahemac 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      😆

  • @thonatmo
    @thonatmo 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7264

    If you didnt have an existential crisis in the first half, don't worry, CgpGrey got you in the second half

    • @JustaGuy12347
      @JustaGuy12347 3 ปีที่แล้ว +18

      nah

    • @user-rc8bb7yb1e
      @user-rc8bb7yb1e 3 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      nope i don't have existential crisises on any video

    • @grabthecrucifixband4203
      @grabthecrucifixband4203 3 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      Yeah you’re just weak minded.

    • @Lafayette-hk2gd
      @Lafayette-hk2gd 3 ปีที่แล้ว +62

      He hits you with the double whammy

    • @grabthecrucifixband4203
      @grabthecrucifixband4203 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      @@onxiaftw you don’t use big words with small words in the same sentence that’s just stupidence.

  • @chughes156
    @chughes156 ปีที่แล้ว +674

    Love the re-use of "Illusion of something solid" at two completely different scales: A4 x 2^(-76) and 2^140

    • @dorol6375
      @dorol6375 ปีที่แล้ว +71

      And "the reality of x, it is made of mostly nothing."

  • @Moj1989
    @Moj1989 3 ปีที่แล้ว +18441

    "Hey Grey, look at this sheet of paper for a second."
    Grey: (transcends reality)

    • @Altrantis
      @Altrantis 3 ปีที่แล้ว +66

      CHIM

    • @Shaymin0
      @Shaymin0 3 ปีที่แล้ว +135

      there is no reality to transend for there is nothing. in the smallest virtues of reality we see nothing and from the farthest reaches beyond our comprehension, there is nothing.

    • @Shaymin0
      @Shaymin0 3 ปีที่แล้ว +51

      @Luís Andrade That is true! our current understanding of nothing is the lack of existence there is if there is a theoretical measurement of nothing and emptiness then that nothing becomes an ever-expanding ball of something in the distance of what we perceive as the reaches that our lights can't even see. So therefore in nothing, there is always the possibility of something so something will always exist in our existence.

    • @mariusdesu1633
      @mariusdesu1633 3 ปีที่แล้ว +48

      doctor: what you see in this picture
      Grey: a sheet of paper, to be exact a metric paper on which is everything that is made of nothing...

    • @rrezonkrasniqi
      @rrezonkrasniqi 3 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      @@Shaymin0 Why do you assume that in nothing is always the possibility of something, maybe there is true nothing but you can't comprehend it?

  • @Weazle13XIII
    @Weazle13XIII 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7229

    Fun fact: the house Grey is in doesn't exist. That location has a building holds a gas company and a telecommunications provider.

    • @peaceheis
      @peaceheis 3 ปีที่แล้ว +145

      That’s interesting!

    • @birbthetopicman2851
      @birbthetopicman2851 3 ปีที่แล้ว +122

      How did you find this out?

    • @Weazle13XIII
      @Weazle13XIII 3 ปีที่แล้ว +741

      @@birbthetopicman2851 Zoomed in on maps to the rough area in England based on the river shown in vid, found the location based on the streets and buildings shown. biggest clues were the trident shaped road to the south-east, the two circular roads in the north corners, and the blobby shaped building next door to Grey

    • @Yorie1234
      @Yorie1234 3 ปีที่แล้ว +375

      I was wondering that,
      i couldn't imagine he'd use his real house

    • @vale.antoni
      @vale.antoni 3 ปีที่แล้ว +226

      @@Yorie1234 The place he used was in the kind of borough called "City of London" (It's not technically part of the UK's capital city called London) It's one of the densest built, and has the tallest skyscrapers in the region
      Also has been around for so long, noone actually knows how long it has been around for.

  • @giosanpedro
    @giosanpedro 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5085

    I... just became an A4 convert. It's been nice letter size 🙋‍♂️

    • @abemulligantralz8806
      @abemulligantralz8806 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      why are you here

    • @Glace1221
      @Glace1221 3 ปีที่แล้ว +83

      I converted after the Hexagonism video

    • @user-yc3tf4wz2x
      @user-yc3tf4wz2x 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    • @tech99070
      @tech99070 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Yeah that's... not how life works? Like, are you planning to move? Buy your office a new printer? What exactly do you mean by "convert"????

    • @peacewalker3344
      @peacewalker3344 3 ปีที่แล้ว +131

      @@tech99070 it means he'a gonna use metric paper for printing purposes from now on i guess
      which is great,
      metric system makes everything better

  • @MCjossic
    @MCjossic 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3010

    What I liked most about this is that a) I learned that A0 paper exists, b) it is a satisfying, perfect 1m^2

    • @agumon1605
      @agumon1605 2 ปีที่แล้ว +55

      Yeah usually used in huge posters and architecture working drawings

    • @Delibro
      @Delibro 2 ปีที่แล้ว +61

      I thought you learn that as a small kid when you ask: "Why is it called A4 and not A37?" :)

    • @blakksheep736
      @blakksheep736 2 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      It is also made of mostly nothing.

    • @gabrielkind2970
      @gabrielkind2970 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      1m x 1.41m akchully

    • @Delibro
      @Delibro 2 ปีที่แล้ว +168

      @@gabrielkind2970 No! A0 has 1 m² area. That is 0.841 × 1.189 m

  • @Venotix
    @Venotix 3 ปีที่แล้ว +34639

    So what you're saying is.. this perfectly-shaped rectangle... is the bestangle?

    • @pinkneko13
      @pinkneko13 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2180

      No such thing, hexagon is bestagon.

    • @tomrogue13
      @tomrogue13 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1715

      @@pinkneko13 not bestagon. Bestangle

    • @Jai_moss07
      @Jai_moss07 3 ปีที่แล้ว +365

      You may multiply multiple hexagonal bits to tile t-wards infinity as well

    • @lourdthebluefoxie
      @lourdthebluefoxie 3 ปีที่แล้ว +39

      Lol

    • @gaboversta2.423
      @gaboversta2.423 3 ปีที่แล้ว +302

      it has the one thing the bestagon doesn't, it divides into itself. So it should be the bestangle

  • @91thewatcher23
    @91thewatcher23 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2947

    Grey 10 years ago: "So this is why we should get rid of pennies"
    Grey now: "After studying a sheet of paper, I've been reminded that everything is nothing, everything we've ever known and loved is all foggy shapes in the ethereal."

    • @benjaminzerr6708
      @benjaminzerr6708 3 ปีที่แล้ว +32

      Grey 10 years from now: "....

    • @NN-mh4bj
      @NN-mh4bj 3 ปีที่แล้ว +80

      @@benjaminzerr6708 "hovers above ground ominously"

    • @obsideonyx7604
      @obsideonyx7604 3 ปีที่แล้ว +32

      @@NN-mh4bj **speaks in reverse**

    • @moxsedai
      @moxsedai 3 ปีที่แล้ว +39

      Grey 4 months ago: hexagons are the bestagons

    • @Drake00075
      @Drake00075 3 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      I bet reading a book upside down is a simple enough challenge for him now.

  • @NintendoNerd64
    @NintendoNerd64 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6082

    “look at this sheet of paper”
    *8 minutes later*
    “we are now at the edge of the universe”

    • @mariatpena7638
      @mariatpena7638 3 ปีที่แล้ว +43

      *mind blown*

    • @richard6196
      @richard6196 3 ปีที่แล้ว +30

      We got taken for a ride for sure.

    • @simon-pierrelussier2775
      @simon-pierrelussier2775 3 ปีที่แล้ว +26

      And that happens to be how long it took photons to leave the photosphere of the sun and reach earth.

    • @dahscreamingeagle3473
      @dahscreamingeagle3473 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      well that escalated very quickly

    • @Mrityunjay7
      @Mrityunjay7 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      @@simon-pierrelussier2775 If that was intended then I believe Grey is the best story teller I have seen

  • @fredthepenguin6539
    @fredthepenguin6539 ปีที่แล้ว +1117

    This video makes me realize how much of a giant I am, bigger than so many things, but it makes me realize how tiny I am, and how earth is basically a quark inside an atom inside a grain of sand in a desert the size of a galaxy

    • @agnetalykins7564
      @agnetalykins7564 ปีที่แล้ว +61

      Going further, that galaxy-sized desert is itself but a quark within the grain of sand that is our galactic cluster. Within the great desert that is the observable universe. And beyond, as the video states, for who knows how long.

    • @BaronRodney
      @BaronRodney ปีที่แล้ว +24

      @@agnetalykins7564 Terrifying is not what there is to be afraid of but is instead the inability to comprehend the unknown.

  • @kpatch410
    @kpatch410 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4840

    "What are you watching?"
    "...mostly nothing."

    • @tydev2305
      @tydev2305 3 ปีที่แล้ว +41

      He isn’t wrong

    • @HideFromIt
      @HideFromIt 3 ปีที่แล้ว +38

      dont let this distract you from the absolute fact that bungee gum has both the properties of rubber and gum

    • @proild
      @proild 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      This statement is true regardless of what exactly you're watching.

    • @oliverhumphreys8141
      @oliverhumphreys8141 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      why

    • @Xnoob545
      @Xnoob545 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@HideFromIt in Lithuanian rubber and gum is the same word

  • @pallandoromestamo8861
    @pallandoromestamo8861 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1519

    Can we all take a moment to appreciate how well the voice is synced with the zooming?

    • @fisheatsyourhead
      @fisheatsyourhead 3 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      If you haven't listened to HI, he used to practice his scripts in an office with thunderstorms as background noise pacing back and forth and I know this one was at home but I can just imagine how strange this one would sound especially

    • @DorianC
      @DorianC 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      At 3:55?

    • @cuberman5948
      @cuberman5948 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      ok

    • @duckles426
      @duckles426 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      The speed of the zoom also changes a bit to sync up with his speech.

    • @THEFIRE360
      @THEFIRE360 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Technically more so the other way around. Video is synced to audio

  • @vlogbrothers
    @vlogbrothers 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5588

    Now THIS is my kind of party. -John

    • @evanpearson2612
      @evanpearson2612 3 ปีที่แล้ว +29

      factually frustrating though, for ex. his inaccurate description of Planck length.

    • @askplays
      @askplays 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      wow

    • @HasanSawan
      @HasanSawan 3 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      Existential angst party!

    • @Univarman
      @Univarman 3 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      @@evanpearson2612 What did he say that was incorrect?

    • @amanatee27
      @amanatee27 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      +

  • @las_r
    @las_r ปีที่แล้ว +974

    Man really explained the entire universe and nothingness with a piece of A4 paper.

  • @stormninjabros025
    @stormninjabros025 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8045

    "You can only fold a sheet of paper in half 6 times. No more than that."
    CGP Grey: ...and now we're at the Planck length.

    • @IncredibleMD
      @IncredibleMD 2 ปีที่แล้ว +438

      A perfect example between the difference between practical and theoretical mathematics.

    • @zypity
      @zypity 2 ปีที่แล้ว +161

      True, though you could also make the argument he cuts them in half, which is - as docincredible remarks - theoretically (near) infinitely possible.

    • @Shockblade95
      @Shockblade95 2 ปีที่แล้ว +68

      I just folded it 7 times
      sure it doesn't have its ratio anymore, but still

    • @definitelynotjustasquirrel8319
      @definitelynotjustasquirrel8319 2 ปีที่แล้ว +78

      The world record is twelve. Its a myth that the size and thickness don’t matter.

    • @davidmartensson273
      @davidmartensson273 2 ปีที่แล้ว +35

      @@definitelynotjustasquirrel8319 Exactly, its just that halving the thickness only gives you one more fold, and a paper is so thin that its hard to make it thin enough to fold it many more times.
      If you make it larger you can do it, but still, if its to thin it will break instead of fold, so its a matter of physics and material.
      I think aluminium foil should be foldable more times since its thinner than most paper but I have not tried it.

  • @SoloJazz69
    @SoloJazz69 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8198

    I find it fascinating how this channel can turn an ordinary piece of paper into an existential crisis for so many people

    • @thesaltybeard1793
      @thesaltybeard1793 2 ปีที่แล้ว +62

      If you think about it, this is evidence that we may live in a simulation.
      In 3d re dering we only render what is necessary. We don't fill the inside of a 3d object with data points to make it an object. We just use triangles to construct its shell.

    • @thesaltybeard1793
      @thesaltybeard1793 2 ปีที่แล้ว +29

      That is to say: the illusion of matter when most of what is being interacted with is nothing.

    • @MrMichiel1983
      @MrMichiel1983 2 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      Why would this make you feel empty? It inspires me with awe.

    • @MrMichiel1983
      @MrMichiel1983 2 ปีที่แล้ว +27

      @@thesaltybeard1793 How is this evidence of a simulation? All those particles in a nucleus interact with each in a combinatory way. This ensures any calculation using less particles than the original situation is also slower, because it can't sustain the same level of complexity. Although the speed doesn't matter for a simulation hypothesis using a Zenonian argument (Achilles and the Tortoise), the nucleus itself still counts like a multi-dimensional polyhedron; a multi-particled system. So even though matter looks empty it most certainly doesn't model with the complexity of nothing. Just because we use triangles in simulations, and nature uses triangles in real-life; doesn't make real-life a simulation.

    • @wiseguidedmissile
      @wiseguidedmissile 2 ปีที่แล้ว +23

      Kurzgesagt: *Im four parallel universes ahead of you*

  • @botston
    @botston 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4772

    Smallest metric: here is something that is actually nothing
    The largest metric: here is nothing that is actually everything

    • @jcxz983
      @jcxz983 3 ปีที่แล้ว +109

      Also, mostly nothing.

    • @GodSpeedx0
      @GodSpeedx0 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Damn...

    • @keithdolderer8391
      @keithdolderer8391 3 ปีที่แล้ว +22

      ** The largest metric: here is nothing that is actually something

    • @ethanwalsh5441
      @ethanwalsh5441 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      🙌🏻

    • @sarthaksharma4816
      @sarthaksharma4816 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @Noah H most likely. I guess.

  • @mfbfreak
    @mfbfreak ปีที่แล้ว +80

    The speed of light being described as heartbreakingly slow really speaks to me. There is so much cool stuff in the universe, but even at the fastest conceivable speed, almost all of it will forever be out of range.

  • @the-sands-of-time
    @the-sands-of-time 2 ปีที่แล้ว +12189

    Normal people: "Hey, could you hand me a sheet of paper?"
    CGP Grey: *​contemplates life, existence, and nothingness​*

    • @abhishekaggarwal6473
      @abhishekaggarwal6473 2 ปีที่แล้ว +49

      CGP Grey is on steroids

    • @skeeter.1017
      @skeeter.1017 2 ปีที่แล้ว +67

      How can a piece of paper give me stress I never felt befor

    • @MrMischelito
      @MrMischelito 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Epic and philisophical

    • @bloodnivel70
      @bloodnivel70 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      No such thing as nothingness, please drop this facile cynical nihilism mindset.

    • @Ushankan
      @Ushankan 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      yeah about that i still have a question nobody can answer: Why is i? why is us? why is existence?

  • @sunnyday6133
    @sunnyday6133 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3866

    This just made me reaize that we live at the most exciting scale. Go smaller and it gets incedibly empty, go bigger, the same happens. I’m thankful for our insignificantly small scale in the universe.

    • @un7n0wing85
      @un7n0wing85 2 ปีที่แล้ว +440

      Well, yes, as far as we know, but what if it's the same as you go up and down? If you think about it, the same forces are at work on all levels so what if it just starts over at the top? What if, above us, is a scientist studying our star as an atom, looking at all the emptiness between the planets and saying that it's made of mostly nothing? It could be the same below and we'd never know because our perception is limited. I have literally nothing to back this point up but I like that idea better than the infinite nothing.

    • @uhuju1
      @uhuju1 2 ปีที่แล้ว +68

      This is such a beautiful comment, thanks for sharing that thought

    • @aniusers
      @aniusers 2 ปีที่แล้ว +130

      @@un7n0wing85 the boundaries of observability being effectively a mirror is terrifying in its own right.

    • @Shivas-cj7vr
      @Shivas-cj7vr 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Fore sure! Irrespective of time and space being relative, it's trully a remarkable thing!

    • @digitig
      @digitig 2 ปีที่แล้ว +56

      It's pretty much inevitable that we'd be at a scale where there tends to be something rather than nothing, of course.

  • @veritasium
    @veritasium 3 ปีที่แล้ว +11244

    I mean you *think* it takes a second for light to reach the moon...

    • @hobogrifter
      @hobogrifter 3 ปีที่แล้ว +466

      I didn't expect to see you here

    • @Infinatus25
      @Infinatus25 3 ปีที่แล้ว +424

      What's your point?
      Edit: Ok ok I get it people, we don't "actually" know the speed of light, just how long it takes to get from point A to point A after bouncing off of point B.

    • @russianacorns8080
      @russianacorns8080 3 ปีที่แล้ว +408

      @@hobogrifter you didn’t? These channels are both sciencey channels that explain things that are very hard to understands lol

    • @hobogrifter
      @hobogrifter 3 ปีที่แล้ว +145

      @@russianacorns8080 lol, I didn't think he was a cgp Gray fan. I thought he just watched smarter every day and vsauce

    • @Max-oi9zm
      @Max-oi9zm 3 ปีที่แล้ว +162

      But there is no moon

  • @Quartz512_
    @Quartz512_ 2 ปีที่แล้ว +109

    3:45 if I'm right, if we would fold a paper to that little, it would be taller than the observable universe

  • @lancelotofsadblackwolf_yt6222
    @lancelotofsadblackwolf_yt6222 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1619

    I'm impressed that a piece of paper would give someone an existential crisis.

    • @skelpix5449
      @skelpix5449 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Ok???

    • @favioferreira8921
      @favioferreira8921 3 ปีที่แล้ว +48

      This is CGP Grey, the guy who became fixated with hexagons for a while, and who went on a crusade to find out who owns Staton Island.

    • @MCRailRoader
      @MCRailRoader 3 ปีที่แล้ว +18

      I feel like CGP Grey can have an existential crisis over anything.

    • @Jawsomest
      @Jawsomest 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Yo Mama!

    • @benjaminpainter378
      @benjaminpainter378 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      I read this comment before and after watching the video. It didn't make sense before, but boy did it hit hard after.

  • @Leidon00
    @Leidon00 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1285

    i thought this was gonna be about how brilliant Metric Paper design is. Still glad tho

  • @catlikearcher9955
    @catlikearcher9955 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2445

    I never realised how poetic reality is. At the smallest and largest scales, things are dotted in the nothing so as only to create the illusion of solid matter.

    • @s1lverp3nguin
      @s1lverp3nguin 3 ปีที่แล้ว +28

      wow, i love “dotted in the nothing”

    • @nathanielwilliams3891
      @nathanielwilliams3891 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      At all scales, really.

    • @thelocalnecromancer1224
      @thelocalnecromancer1224 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      ruined 666 likes

    • @marcvesper
      @marcvesper 3 ปีที่แล้ว +20

      And they're not even dots as much as vibrations - more like musical notes than hard points.

    • @Aaron.Reichert
      @Aaron.Reichert 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Interesting how that is worded. I'll have to think on that.

  • @jacksonritchie7672
    @jacksonritchie7672 2 ปีที่แล้ว +321

    I don’t think I’ll be able to look at a sheet of paper again without having an existential, gut-wrenching reality check

  • @TheSonicsean
    @TheSonicsean 3 ปีที่แล้ว +926

    2:27 "where hexagonal arrangements..."
    Because of course they're bloody hexagons.

    • @marinescu0511
      @marinescu0511 3 ปีที่แล้ว +115

      My heart jumped in fear, thinking he would go on another bestagons rant

    • @CGPGrey
      @CGPGrey  3 ปีที่แล้ว +556

    • @Awkairo
      @Awkairo 3 ปีที่แล้ว +56

      @@CGPGrey No words needed.

    • @pikachu-jf2oh
      @pikachu-jf2oh 3 ปีที่แล้ว +18

      @@CGPGrey praise the hexagon!

    • @capitalm417
      @capitalm417 3 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      @@CGPGrey could not have been more true

  • @Juan308
    @Juan308 3 ปีที่แล้ว +657

    I clicked on this video thinking how on earth could there be 9 minutes of content about metric paper. I was not disappointed.

    • @blendyboi5023
      @blendyboi5023 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      After all, it's CGP Grey

  • @otterstream1263
    @otterstream1263 3 ปีที่แล้ว +702

    Thanks for this, grey, now I can’t look at a sheet of paper without having an existential crisis.

    • @CGPGrey
      @CGPGrey  3 ปีที่แล้ว +386

    • @edmundthespiffing2920
      @edmundthespiffing2920 3 ปีที่แล้ว +39

      @@CGPGrey damn you

    • @XxBallsLover69xX
      @XxBallsLover69xX 3 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      @@CGPGrey Grey i have a question.
      When is it too late to say “Yeetus to the fetus”?

    • @Adam-zt4cn
      @Adam-zt4cn 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      @@CGPGrey Wait, is that a PICTURE? In a TH-cam comment section?!

    • @sparklerabbit33
      @sparklerabbit33 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @Mek_T ඞ

  • @ruthstewart5242
    @ruthstewart5242 2 ปีที่แล้ว +147

    I wasn’t aware I was about to go on an existential journey guided by a piece of paper but there it is…

  • @H3Vtux
    @H3Vtux 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2339

    1:07 it's happening. He's finally snapped. We love you grey, thanks for everything.

    • @KingAgniKai
      @KingAgniKai 3 ปีที่แล้ว +20

      L

    • @KingAgniKai
      @KingAgniKai 3 ปีที่แล้ว +23

      I mean F

    • @azahel542
      @azahel542 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      It was only a matter of time.

    • @goruu
      @goruu 3 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      Squaragon is the bestagons.

    • @NotEnoughSwvy
      @NotEnoughSwvy 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      I’ll miss his psyche

  • @tomhall3669
    @tomhall3669 2 ปีที่แล้ว +452

    “A reality pixel, which is best not to think about”. That one hit me hard, but so true

  • @human-tk2fo
    @human-tk2fo 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1857

    Light is heartbreakingly slow, and life is heartbreakingly short, the fastest thing we know and the longest thing we know we experience are simply not enough to explore the stars

    • @IstasPumaNevada
      @IstasPumaNevada 3 ปีที่แล้ว +44

      Unless we find a (feasible-to-implement-in-a-way-that-actually-produces-tangible-results-instead-of-hypothetical-thought-experiments) way to circumvent the speed limit of light. Perhaps not likely, but it's hard to say how unlikely that really is, and impossible to say for certain (at least so far) that we won't someday break into or stumble upon that knowledge.

    • @manojlds
      @manojlds 3 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      It's interesting though as you travel faster you live longer (relative to others back home)

    • @ulick1692
      @ulick1692 3 ปีที่แล้ว +24

      Hopefully we can find irl cheat codes and find out about everything

    • @silverpact1008
      @silverpact1008 3 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      That's quitter talk, simply obtain immortality.

    • @prayforjoe6961
      @prayforjoe6961 3 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      That problem would exist no matter how fast we could travel or how long we would live (except for if speed was instant or life was eternal). If we were fast enough to explore neighbouring stars we would feel the same feeling towards not being able to explore neighbouring universes and so on

  • @NoahRamseysGhost
    @NoahRamseysGhost ปีที่แล้ว +169

    If I had a dime for every time Grey changed the title or thumbnail of this video, I’d be able to afford a channel membership. Oh wait!

  • @whynachtsmann5796
    @whynachtsmann5796 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1236

    The most impressive thing is how fast exponential growth is. I mean u only have to double 400 times to get from the smallest thing that can possibly be to the size of the whole observable universe

    • @andrius0592
      @andrius0592 3 ปีที่แล้ว +37

      And then remember that diseases spread exponentally 😬 (although the exponent is not always 2).

    • @saprogeist31
      @saprogeist31 3 ปีที่แล้ว +39

      Imo, the coolest thing about scaling the universe exponentially is that human neurons fall right in the middle. Human neurons can be about a hundred microns wide (1 x 10^-4 m). A micron is a millionth of a meter, so a hundred of them would be a tenth of a millimeter. If we convert the unit of measurement from one meter to one-tenth of a millimeter, then human neurons have an average length of 1. Make the same conversation to the planck length and the diameter of the observible universe, and you end up with 1.6x10^-31 and 8.8x10^30.

    • @bigman25plus25
      @bigman25plus25 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      'only'

    • @lackingmaturity6631
      @lackingmaturity6631 3 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      @@bigman25plus25 400 really isn't a lot when you think about how you're going from the smallest possible measurement to 8.8 × 10^26 meters. I mean, just compare 400 to 8.8 × 10^26 and you'll see what Whynachtsmann is talking about.

    • @michaelklog
      @michaelklog 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@andrius0592 not always some have a grow rate of ,5 meaning for new infection only a half new one gets infected this is how we removed the measles.

  • @grassguy1154
    @grassguy1154 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1750

    *"S-Sir... All I wanted to know is if you wanted the receipt..."*

    • @grim1044
      @grim1044 3 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      Oof

    • @mayberus7612
      @mayberus7612 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      This made me lohle

    • @kilianfirebolt
      @kilianfirebolt 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Sir this is a wendys >:I

    • @cadainn3718
      @cadainn3718 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      this made me chuckle

    • @lux5164
      @lux5164 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      A cvs receipt is longer than the width of the observable universe

  • @derinedala5032
    @derinedala5032 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3653

    Me, an Australian who grew up with this kind of paper: yeah our paper system is the best, I know exactly what this video is going to be about.
    CGP: The organs of the bee...
    Me: Whelp, I was wrong.

    • @Neojhun
      @Neojhun 3 ปีที่แล้ว +86

      It was at Reality Pixel aka Planck Length I realized we got duped. This was going to be an existential crisis ride.

    • @Nalehw
      @Nalehw 3 ปีที่แล้ว +171

      ...Wait, you mean not every country uses the A4 system?

    • @Neojhun
      @Neojhun 3 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      @@Nalehw Huh Letter is still very popular. I thought both was still a thing.

    • @mymoomin0952
      @mymoomin0952 3 ปีที่แล้ว +78

      @@Nalehw America is always the exception for metric
      Plus sometimes Canada, a few other countries in the Americas, and the Phillipines

    • @derinedala5032
      @derinedala5032 3 ปีที่แล้ว +49

      @@Nalehw Americans have a bunch of weirdly shaped paper sizes with no relation to each other.

  • @Anonymous-sb9rr
    @Anonymous-sb9rr ปีที่แล้ว +48

    A4/2^64 could also just be called A68. Not a very common paper size, but well defined.

  • @daanstrik4293
    @daanstrik4293 3 ปีที่แล้ว +229

    This is a sheet of paper
    *3 minutes later*
    We have now reached the edge of human understanding

    • @vigilantcosmicpenguin8721
      @vigilantcosmicpenguin8721 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Isn't that what paper is for? Creating ideas as far as the mind can imagine?

  • @FlavorLab
    @FlavorLab 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2000

    This is such a great updated version of powers of 10!

    • @JohnGottschalk
      @JohnGottschalk 3 ปีที่แล้ว +41

      Was looking for this, I remember this so vividly, that although this video a quirky way of showing the same, I still like powers of ten because of the retro aesthetic. It is nice that we go a little deaper, and a little further out, and that the emptiness is extra acknowledged.
      But then again I would maybe rather not think about the illusion of life and material, and focus more on the privilege and scarcity of it.

    • @FlavorLab
      @FlavorLab 3 ปีที่แล้ว +28

      @@Mrpersonman0 I think it's because verified people get higher placement on the comments section of YT videos. Sorry!
      But glad to hear I wasn't the only one thinking of this!

    • @kennarajora6532
      @kennarajora6532 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@Mrpersonman0 yeah, mine's 23 hours old, and also talked about the powers of 10 documentary, but it's not got any either.

    • @knowthink1245
      @knowthink1245 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Hello

    • @foozballguy
      @foozballguy 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      That was by UChicago right?

  • @chessplayer6632
    @chessplayer6632 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2243

    **Starts zooming out from the plank length**
    “Ok, maybe he will stop making me have a crisis”
    **Starts doubling paper**
    “Oh no”

    • @rawtoast7719
      @rawtoast7719 3 ปีที่แล้ว +25

      Same I feel like I am going to cry

    • @mmagnenat
      @mmagnenat 3 ปีที่แล้ว +29

      Just wait until he does a video on the C and the B formats...

    • @emmanueltidor1996
      @emmanueltidor1996 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Anyways.

    • @Polarthief
      @Polarthief 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      If you didn't expect him to go the other way, idk what to tell you

    • @graceoartyo
      @graceoartyo 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      the crisis only got worse

  • @loststylus7641
    @loststylus7641 2 ปีที่แล้ว +32

    This video is very powerful for understanding everything we are as far as scaling goes, but also just goes to show how our own scale, where we live and observe, is really the most important to us because it fits us. The rest of this stuff we know exists, but will never truly observe or understand, at least for a very long time. The things on our scale are explained with our communication, using the senses that are tuned for this level of understanding. Look what we’ve done with the scale we’ve been given, the scale we are bound to. We have limits, but do we really know where they are? The limits haven’t stopped our own expansion of understanding, and unlike a lot of other levels, our scale is full of life, compared to the vast nothingness on both ends. If nothing matters on both ends where nothing happens, I wanna stay where things do happen and I can bring myself to comprehend, but I think that’s more easily said, and I’m probably pretty ignorant compared to what things could be but I just wanna say to those who are having existential crises that it’s not a concern and will never be a concern, in our lifetime. And if it is we can cross that bridge when we get to it.

  • @Tay-tt2gy
    @Tay-tt2gy 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1204

    Teacher: Okay, class, please take out your A4 sheets of paper and fold them in half.
    CGP Grey: ...this A4 is a door... to the exponential spiral of everything...

  • @ajpetrina86
    @ajpetrina86 3 ปีที่แล้ว +497

    When you reflect on what you did with your day and come up with, "Mostly nothing", you are yourself, the truest reflection of the universe

  • @Talik13
    @Talik13 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2396

    CGP Grey: "In conclusion, I like A4 paper."

    • @YALMSL
      @YALMSL 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      I like A999 paper

    • @Jay_Johnson
      @Jay_Johnson 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@YALMSL I like A-140

    • @Robstar0
      @Robstar0 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Maybe he should study a course about brevity 🤣

    • @marcolinosalgarone9442
      @marcolinosalgarone9442 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      the end is not true, if we can't see out we can' t tell what there is out: could be other universes less than a centimeter from our universe

    • @kkTeaz
      @kkTeaz 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Paper

  • @wolfrock04
    @wolfrock04 ปีที่แล้ว +549

    “Sir this is a Wendy’s.”

  • @Elesarr
    @Elesarr 3 ปีที่แล้ว +669

    A video titled "Metric Paper" is the last place I thought would give me an existential crisis

    • @prakharmishra3000
      @prakharmishra3000 3 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      Same dude I just came here because I thought that he was going to roast imperial measurements 😭

    • @noahjordan6761
      @noahjordan6761 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Trust me... there are much... MUCH further places

    • @eeeeeeeee9381
      @eeeeeeeee9381 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      The original title was “Metric Paper and Everything in the Universe”

  • @shaunhurst2595
    @shaunhurst2595 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2618

    Psychiatrist: What do you see when you look at the A4 paper?
    CGP Grey: Folding the paper make the same size ratio as its original...we're all lambs to the cosmic slaughter.

    • @J4WURSED
      @J4WURSED 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Ha i got that reference

    • @Banana_boat
      @Banana_boat 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@J4WURSED I don't.
      Care to explain.

    • @PatricioHondagneuRoig
      @PatricioHondagneuRoig 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      @@Banana_boat Rick and Morty's "true level"

    • @Substance2020
      @Substance2020 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Psychiatrist: If you're not screaming in terror then you are insane. Those who aren't screaming are the insane ones.

  • @ShamelessFNGRL
    @ShamelessFNGRL 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4866

    I thought this was going to be a cute video on paper and how the metric system is superior but here I am dealing with my umpteenth existential crisis instead. A hell of a way to wake up! I have never felt this empty before.

    • @jameswest6161
      @jameswest6161 2 ปีที่แล้ว +32

      My head hurts and it's In the afternoon for me so uh... ya.... being fully awake Don't help

    • @distinctloafer
      @distinctloafer 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Death

    • @carlosbulao495
      @carlosbulao495 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      spin

    • @heikkipaasi1279
      @heikkipaasi1279 2 ปีที่แล้ว +39

      Though it is not the reason why you feel so, you still are mostly empty.

    • @MsPhillip93
      @MsPhillip93 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Hahaha same

  • @devilish8130
    @devilish8130 ปีที่แล้ว +40

    Is it just me, or would anyone else love to experience this in VR

  • @Spritesuit
    @Spritesuit 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1566

    Beginning of the video: A paper ratio that easily scales!
    End of the video: Existential dread!

    • @ddcc5560
      @ddcc5560 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Exactly correct

    • @cindynguyen4516
      @cindynguyen4516 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Precisely

    • @DrDrake-kz7js
      @DrDrake-kz7js 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Exactly

    • @dshapiro2518
      @dshapiro2518 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      But why is this an existential crisis?

    • @evanjohnson1299
      @evanjohnson1299 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Grey is what you call a lateral thinker.

  • @suddenstorm8
    @suddenstorm8 3 ปีที่แล้ว +941

    Congratulations CGP Grey, you have now joined "Kurzgesagt - in a nutshell" on the list of TH-cam channels that can fill me with a sense of existential dread.

    • @Kriae
      @Kriae 3 ปีที่แล้ว +38

      Vsauce is pretty much the king of that

    • @jtbk7199
      @jtbk7199 3 ปีที่แล้ว +26

      We have found the holy trinity of mind fuckery

    • @saraqael.
      @saraqael. 3 ปีที่แล้ว +59

      You forgot the most important one: exurb1a

    • @rafliavriza3651
      @rafliavriza3651 3 ปีที่แล้ว +45

      @@saraqael. the depression turtle can either fill you up with an existential dread so terrifying that death itself isn't enough to put it out, or a sense of unity for the better future of humanity that is yet to come

    • @StarsInYourMultitude
      @StarsInYourMultitude 3 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      exurb1a causes the most existential dread

  • @leemsvg
    @leemsvg 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3751

    Conclusion: "damn that is a large sheet of paper"

    • @Uarehere
      @Uarehere 3 ปีที่แล้ว +96

      And apparently, the universe should be called A^-184.

    • @guilhermesartorato93
      @guilhermesartorato93 3 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      @@Uarehere Now I'm thinking of how many A-184 cardboard walls a box should have to contain it, since a six-walls box won't do the job - for being just tridimensional.

    • @Derpy-qg9hn
      @Derpy-qg9hn 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@guilhermesartorato93 There is the change from 1 to 6. Six times. 36 walls for a four-dimensional box, perhaps?

    • @No.1_Ulynona_Fan
      @No.1_Ulynona_Fan 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@Uarehere your galaxy should be called A4x2144

    • @No.1_Ulynona_Fan
      @No.1_Ulynona_Fan 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Yes I’m at a different galaxy rn okay just don’t question it

  • @aosper4350
    @aosper4350 2 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    The most fascinating thing about his videos is that they are so mind blowing and amazing that it makes you less regret on watching TH-cam videos.

  • @progamer1110
    @progamer1110 3 ปีที่แล้ว +324

    The literal second you mentioned paper being halved, I could feel the oncoming existential dread

  • @saims.2402
    @saims.2402 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1009

    Moral of the story: the fastest known object is the camera zooming away from CGP Grey’s desk.

    • @estiaanj8425
      @estiaanj8425 3 ปีที่แล้ว +32

      It’s both the slowest moving object, fastest moving object and fastest accelerating object in different parts of the video

    • @rashkavar
      @rashkavar 3 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      Grey has quite an arm, doesn't he.

    • @BatCostumeGuy
      @BatCostumeGuy 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Lies, my batcopter is faster.

    • @5daboz
      @5daboz 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Technically, problem of space-"travel" is a problem of space-"time" and if you can just switch places (like with quantum entanglement) then you arent faster, but you are timeless. Then there is a bored teenager that just wants to watch his latest spaceshow from the other side of the galaxy but cant because his device is broken and he/she is pissed why the hell it wont do that one job it is designed for, worthless.

    • @staticcactus6029
      @staticcactus6029 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@5daboz actually photons themself are timeless. they experience all of time at one time, from the moment of there creation to the moment they cease, all is as one moment for them. the interior of black holes is more apt, as time becomes space itself, and space becomes time as we know it.

  • @justinmontana3710
    @justinmontana3710 3 ปีที่แล้ว +485

    Speaking as a former Design Student, the Metric Paper system is a Godsend and I recommend utilizing it whenever possible, a philosophy CGPGrey has taken to its logical conclusion

    • @B3RyL
      @B3RyL 2 ปีที่แล้ว +40

      As an EU citizen I personally think that if you removed the word "Paper" from your comment it would make even more sense ;)

    • @CapnCoconuts
      @CapnCoconuts 2 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      @@B3RyL As an American citizen, I am sad we are still using barbarian units.

    • @B3RyL
      @B3RyL 2 ปีที่แล้ว +34

      @@CapnCoconuts I don't want to call them "barbarian". It's such a loaded word. I prefer the term "arithmetically impaired".

    • @blechtic
      @blechtic 2 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      @@B3RyL Given that NIST defines them using SI, they really should be called "units of pointless redirection".

    • @JonasLekevicius
      @JonasLekevicius 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@blechtic do you mean they don't actually have The Exact Foot, somewhere safely preserved?

  • @mmmmine5439
    @mmmmine5439 2 ปีที่แล้ว +79

    The concept of the infinite rectangle ratio is huge in the Steel Ball Run manga. I recommend it to manga fans!

  • @גיאדרי
    @גיאדרי 3 ปีที่แล้ว +607

    Small things: mostly empty space, that sometimes contains an illusion of something solid
    Large things: mostly empty space, that sometimes contains an illusion of something solid

    • @Bloodlyshiva
      @Bloodlyshiva 3 ปีที่แล้ว +49

      As above, so below. Things repeat themselves.

    • @ironsheep9867
      @ironsheep9867 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      People are having all the epiphany’s I had years ago, like how the universe basically doesn’t exist.

    • @durellnelson2641
      @durellnelson2641 3 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      @@ironsheep9867 I'm pretty sure it does exist

    • @binimbap
      @binimbap 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Our minds:

    • @Fiddler1990
      @Fiddler1990 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      (Should have made a transition into the quantum circles at the end,)

  • @cattibingo
    @cattibingo 3 ปีที่แล้ว +837

    This is exactly the existential dread I needed

    • @Tim_Small
      @Tim_Small 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      I like getting an occasional reminder of the scale of things. It helps to keep my day to day life events in the right perspective.

    • @WillayG
      @WillayG 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@Tim_SmallYes. Me too. I actually find this kind of thing very relaxing

    • @fredbeard7710
      @fredbeard7710 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Existential dread? Bro look how big things are, that’s cool!

    • @whoknows7968
      @whoknows7968 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      The existential dread that doesn't give us despair but hope for the infinite possibilities of the known universe! Now just ignore that giant black hole coming for us.

    • @kettei5408
      @kettei5408 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      I like to think of it as "existential awe". Much easier to process and enjoy the universe in it entirety that way.

  • @robertli3600
    @robertli3600 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1365

    Kutzergast: Our videos cause existential crises
    CGP grey: Hold my bees

    • @marafolse8347
      @marafolse8347 3 ปีที่แล้ว +80

      Truly an admirable attempt at spelling curts-gay-socked

    • @theyoten1613
      @theyoten1613 3 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      Pls don't hold bees.

    • @Commandelicious
      @Commandelicious 3 ปีที่แล้ว +48

      @@marafolse8347 KURZ GESAGT
      ACHTUNG!

    • @presidentbanana4536
      @presidentbanana4536 3 ปีที่แล้ว +23

      It's Kurzgesagt

    • @Kingatje
      @Kingatje 3 ปีที่แล้ว +30

      Why stop at that spelling! Go all the way:
      Kotsergast = puker guy in Dutch! (Yes, we left German behind)

  • @MiguelSilvaX
    @MiguelSilvaX 2 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    The real problem is when you fold a sheet of paper, you halve it's length but you double it's thickness, so folding it 2^100 times would give it a spike with almost zero "lengh" and unimaginable "thickness" of ~2^98 meters - you would need a very thick folder :)

  • @koldkilla777
    @koldkilla777 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1280

    "... so anyways, welcome to Kinkos. What size paper did you want me to copy this onto again?"

    • @Qwertytsuna
      @Qwertytsuna 3 ปีที่แล้ว +60

      The size of the observable universe

    • @micobob2883
      @micobob2883 3 ปีที่แล้ว +30

      @@Qwertytsuna I accidentally folded it, it’s now half the observable universe.

    • @Mikeological
      @Mikeological 3 ปีที่แล้ว +43

      "Yeah, can I get that in A184 please?"

    • @koldkilla777
      @koldkilla777 3 ปีที่แล้ว +18

      @@micobob2883 congrats, you've just folded space time and created a wormhole!

    • @wesleymays1931
      @wesleymays1931 3 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      A -184 please

  • @SquillyBR
    @SquillyBR 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2242

    "This is a normal sheet of paper."
    "-Or is it?"
    *Vsauce music plays*

    • @teainnit27
      @teainnit27 3 ปีที่แล้ว +21

      Ngl CPGray doing a collaboration video with Michael Stevens would be so cool.

    • @exxelsetijadi5348
      @exxelsetijadi5348 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      "what defines something as a sheet ?"

    • @intelligent1964
      @intelligent1964 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      HEY VSAUCE MICHAEL HERE

    • @skiller5034
      @skiller5034 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Or "This is just a normal sheet of paper, right? WRONG! it contains the key to the universe, from the smallest things, to the largest." (@FurretWalc Kurzgesagt)

    • @gvc7314
      @gvc7314 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Props ro the camera man who tool a picture of the observable universe and the milky way last to the guy in 3021 who found a another part of observable universe trillions of light years away

  • @jaru3097
    @jaru3097 3 ปีที่แล้ว +847

    and i thought the only way a paper could harm me was a papercut. turns out it can give you a never ending, yet somehow equal exsistential crisis.

    • @eyeballpapercut4400
      @eyeballpapercut4400 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      You called?

    • @motifity3416
      @motifity3416 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@eyeballpapercut4400 Your paper cut is so horrifying, I wouldn't wish that upon my enemies.

    • @duskyracer8800
      @duskyracer8800 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      That is 1000% every English major's entry essay thesis.

  • @jensschroder8214
    @jensschroder8214 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    I have never sent such small or such large paper letters.
    But an A4 letter folded twice fits nicely in a C6 envelope.
    Because A4 paper is folded twice, it is A6 size.

  • @Chyrosran22
    @Chyrosran22 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1316

    Well, I didn't think of presenting the metric system like THIS... but then again, I guess you are a physicist, after all :p .

    • @jayppex
      @jayppex 3 ปีที่แล้ว +26

      Well, I didn't think I'd see you commenting HERE... but then again, such a small world it is, after all. :D
      Legend tells you can still hear a faint "ʰᶦᵈᵉᵒᵘˢ" crying out from earth if you travel so far out away from observable universe.

    • @ShannonsCompany
      @ShannonsCompany 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Hi Thomas! Love your stuff!

    • @Heavensrun
      @Heavensrun 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      It's metric paper, not the metric system. Metric paper works on powers of 2, the metric system works on powers of 10.

    • @Shadow77999
      @Shadow77999 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      And also an excellent video editor. Damn

    • @SkashTheKitsune
      @SkashTheKitsune 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@Heavensrun 10, 100, 1000

  • @get_a_grip_4209
    @get_a_grip_4209 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1554

    POV: your philosophy teacher when you ask for another piece of paper

  • @mretaoin1
    @mretaoin1 3 ปีที่แล้ว +190

    In the early 1970s, I saw Powers of Ten in a science museum. I was fascinated, and I watched it over and over while my family looked at other exhibits. Fifty years later, it's great to see that the concept still affects people so strongly.

    • @CRothgeb
      @CRothgeb 3 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      I was hoping someone was going to mention Powers of 10. I think this concept with folding paper is fun, but I think one of the compelling parts of Powers of 10 was also how the acceleration of the camera zooming in and out was directly tied to the field of view.

    • @treyalsup
      @treyalsup 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Eames

    • @sarahgoodson9406
      @sarahgoodson9406 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Probably the Henry Ford Museum. This is where I saw the video.
      I think it's really cool to have an updated video of the same type that includes some of the discoveries we've made about the universe since the Eames made their video. (Which is a fantastic video.)

    • @NotaTechGuy177
      @NotaTechGuy177 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I remember seeing this video and being mesmerized in the same way. Definitely glad someone brought it up.

  • @NicoandIndy
    @NicoandIndy ปีที่แล้ว +20

    I think Grey went insane during quarantine, this scares me, and I don’t get scared unless it’s something like this

  • @meneither3834
    @meneither3834 3 ปีที่แล้ว +590

    "A sort of reality pixel, which is best not to think about."
    Why did you have to say it ? Now all I'm thinking about are the implications.

    • @thevenator3955
      @thevenator3955 3 ปีที่แล้ว +49

      @Leona *curls up in a corner and cries*

    • @toneytracey3314
      @toneytracey3314 3 ปีที่แล้ว +22

      The contents of a plank length squared area can be described entirely by information along it's sides. In other words, the universe could be 2D and we wouldn't know

    • @PerfectDarkcontrol
      @PerfectDarkcontrol 3 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      Should I tell you something even more mind-boggling? Nothing is continuously, nothing flows, everything exists in discrete steps, everything moves periodically. Light travels in steps, matter exists frequently, even we move systematically. Welcome to the wave zone! :D

    • @Corrodias
      @Corrodias 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@toneytracey3314 But what shape is it? That's what bothers me. Pack pieces of information together as closely as possible, and what geometric arrangement do they assume? I assume this is a fundamental misunderstanding of what the planck length means.

    • @bolmobelo
      @bolmobelo 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@grzegorzbrzeczyszczykiewic563 o h n o

  • @MasterReset7
    @MasterReset7 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1773

    Man, that was a ride!!

    • @pacanaca2
      @pacanaca2 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Im first c:

    • @adrianafamilymember6427
      @adrianafamilymember6427 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@pacanaca2 Whom is last though the truth is we will never know.

    • @jacketofseville
      @jacketofseville 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Opa reset, você aqui? como vai?

    • @moalyz6009
      @moalyz6009 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@adrianafamilymember6427 that is in fact through kinds of like a sheet of a4 paper the more we expand the more we want to see

    • @capy9846
      @capy9846 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@adrianafamilymember6427
      There is a 500 reply cap

  • @toonbat
    @toonbat 3 ปีที่แล้ว +806

    This feels like the sort of thing everyone should watch at least once in their lives.

    • @iprobablyforgotsomething
      @iprobablyforgotsomething 3 ปีที่แล้ว +45

      But *only* once, as repeated viewings will lead to clinical insanity.

    • @Drawist.
      @Drawist. 3 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      @@iprobablyforgotsomething i have watched this video at least 3 times

    • @peaceheis
      @peaceheis 3 ปีที่แล้ว +21

      @@Drawist. The insanity may take b 5-7 business days to ship

    • @odd-ysseusdoesstuff6347
      @odd-ysseusdoesstuff6347 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@iprobablyforgotsomething But. I watch this twice a week, on average. Am I insane?

    • @insert_username_here
      @insert_username_here 3 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      I watch too many of these types of videos. My mind always defaults to thinking about how things are so small and insignificant when I have nothing to do. I think I may have gone insane.
      Also, there was no point in writing this comment. I’m just going to forget about this, people who read this will also just forget it, TH-cam will probably stop being used sometime in the future, the Internet will probably be replaced by something, all life on earth will die eventually, the sun will eat up our solar system, then it will also die, along with all the other stars forming a universe of black holes which will also die, then the universe itself dies. Our lives are just a microscopically tiny fraction of all that, so what’s the point of continuing the misery and the shittyness of life? Why don’t we all just collectively kill ourselves so we don’t have to deal with this?

  • @bloodykenshiro8218
    @bloodykenshiro8218 2 ปีที่แล้ว +57

    All hail A4, all hail the metric system!
    Seriously though. I don't know if this video is meant to be poetic or an existentialist piece, but I love it, for sure.

  • @dewinmoonl
    @dewinmoonl 3 ปีที่แล้ว +361

    i'm so crushed that at the end you didn't take us back home by zooming back in. just left us out in the unobservable universe, felt abandoned.

    • @meinbherpieg4723
      @meinbherpieg4723 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Such is the journey we will all one day make. Spontaneous evolution of consciousness throughout infinity resulting in countless amounts of awareness... but for what purpose is the question no one can answer.

    • @ksalarang
      @ksalarang 3 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      @@meinbherpieg4723, because there is no answer to this question. The question itself is meaningless.

    • @Ithirahad
      @Ithirahad 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      ...I mean yeah, that's kinda how the universe works. Infinity abandoning itself infinitely.

    • @KOZMOuvBORG
      @KOZMOuvBORG 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Or have a short cut where, as you diffuse into the Cosmos, you'll re-emerge out of the Planck Length (q.v. Mandelbrot Set) or vice versa.

    • @meinbherpieg4723
      @meinbherpieg4723 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@ksalarang Purpose is the only question worth asking. If there is no purpose there is no meaning to the unimaginable amount and degree of suffering that constantly takes place and has occurred for eons. To live in an apathetic universe without meaning which causes much more suffering on average is a hell no one should choose to experience.

  • @pseudotasuki
    @pseudotasuki 3 ปีที่แล้ว +371

    When the "camera" is zooming in really fast to approach the Planck length, it was actually moving slower than any other moment in the video.

    • @sabin97
      @sabin97 3 ปีที่แล้ว +20

      when it's zooming in, it doesnt move.

    • @northshorepx
      @northshorepx 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      Excellent observation!

    • @wijzijnwij
      @wijzijnwij 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      You sure did rob that moment of its speed

    • @MartijnCoppoolse
      @MartijnCoppoolse 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Absolutely!

    • @irishwithaoife3769
      @irishwithaoife3769 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      3:30 if anyone wants to know

  • @arjaxx2001
    @arjaxx2001 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1063

    You know, at least when kuercragzat gives me existential dread, they at least show me cute birds

    • @SurnSensei
      @SurnSensei 3 ปีที่แล้ว +62

      maybe you meant kurzgesagt

    • @Aminal321
      @Aminal321 3 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      Kurzgesagt not "kuercragzat"

    • @Morningstar_37
      @Morningstar_37 3 ปีที่แล้ว +40

      @@Aminal321 Maybe he meant kuercragzat

    • @Morningstar_37
      @Morningstar_37 3 ปีที่แล้ว +50

      But CGP Grey has Bees

    • @thunderboltpo
      @thunderboltpo 3 ปีที่แล้ว +23

      @@SurnSensei kurzgesagt is very hard to spell, its resonable he spelled it wrong

  • @CoDkiller1888
    @CoDkiller1888 ปีที่แล้ว +46

    Just came here to learn something about metric paper. Now I am having an existential crisis, thinking about reality pixels and the endless void.

    • @theexchipmunk
      @theexchipmunk ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Yeah, and that everything we experience is mostly nothing with a very thin cloud of things that barely even exist masquerading as something.

  • @cubfan
    @cubfan 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3484

    Alternate title had to be, "Metric Paper & Nothing"

    • @CockatooDude
      @CockatooDude 3 ปีที่แล้ว +132

      This is the only thing that can top how mindblowing your pyramid is.

    • @MasterofBeats
      @MasterofBeats 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      haha yes

    • @redcan7931
      @redcan7931 3 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      Hey cub

    • @luckyblockyoshi
      @luckyblockyoshi 3 ปีที่แล้ว +30

      Metric Paper & Existential Crisis

    • @D4rkRCS
      @D4rkRCS 3 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      Omg cub

  • @Sunsets5000
    @Sunsets5000 3 ปีที่แล้ว +265

    This was spectacular. I pretty much love everything Grey does, but this was a new high for me. He managed to take something generally considered mundane and used it to explore the very limits of space, time and human knowledge without ever breaking from his central theme. Truly beautiful. I can see why he became a teacher now.

    • @LeoStaley
      @LeoStaley 3 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      Fun fact, in a podcast he explained that he chose teaching primarily because no other career gives you that much time off. Also metric paper isn't mundane to Americans, but beautiful magic which those who learn of it are doomed to merely long for the rest of their days. I can't get even printer designed for it.

    • @ashutoshsamantaray2572
      @ashutoshsamantaray2572 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Ya he chose teaching cuz the holidays..

  • @frankthetank2550
    @frankthetank2550 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1690

    This video is what would happen if Vsauce focused on one topic for more than a minute

    • @82ayalaj
      @82ayalaj 3 ปีที่แล้ว +42

      Me thoughts exactly. Very reminiscence from the classic vsauce

    • @geckowizard9058
      @geckowizard9058 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Content of video: if you made a really big piece of paper......... uuuhhh...... it would be really big! (it's sad that anyone could find this interesting)

    • @savwaltz5187
      @savwaltz5187 3 ปีที่แล้ว +27

      He forgot the most essential element of Vsauce..... But why? *Vsauce music intensifies*

    • @gabevietor3685
      @gabevietor3685 3 ปีที่แล้ว +39

      @@geckowizard9058 It's not the paper that we care about, it's the things we compare it to, and how easy it is to move so fast from something to nothing.

    • @bbittercoffee
      @bbittercoffee 3 ปีที่แล้ว +60

      @@geckowizard9058 It's sad anyone finds any marvel movie entertaining, it's all fake, really.
      Or that people find any games entertaining, it's all pixels, really.
      It's sad that anybody lives life, we barely matter in the bigger picture of the universe, really.
      It's sad that you try to make people feel bad about themselves for enjoying a video made to be enjoyed.

  • @effect0031
    @effect0031 ปีที่แล้ว +16

    I really thought it is going to be like how did they come up with this system...I didn't expect this at all.

  • @knightshousegames
    @knightshousegames 3 ปีที่แล้ว +681

    *About a minute in*: "Oh hey, I remember learning this in drafting class in high school."
    *At the end*: "What else did they neglect to tell me......?"

    • @vigilantcosmicpenguin8721
      @vigilantcosmicpenguin8721 3 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      I've seen a lot of TH-cam videos about things I learned in science class, or history class... never would have guessed drafting class would bring one of the most interesting of them all.

  • @GrayCatbird1
    @GrayCatbird1 3 ปีที่แล้ว +257

    The most insightful aspect of this video I think is how parallels between different scales were made in a simple but clear manner. A galaxy is similar to an atom in its structure, a city is similar to a bee in its disposition. Small things come together to create seemingly huge things, from nothing else than their interaction with each other, again and again at every scale.

  • @gtoger
    @gtoger 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1643

    This is fascinating and heartbreaking.

    • @skybike89
      @skybike89 3 ปีที่แล้ว +64

      This statement can pretty much sum up human existence as well.

    • @kkurova9345
      @kkurova9345 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      i found it very comforting

    • @Soaptastesok
      @Soaptastesok 3 ปีที่แล้ว +38

      Rest in the solace that there's a small chance, when we die, we become entities capable of understanding all that there is.
      Probably not, but if not, everything will be black and you'll be dead so you won't care.

    • @BatCostumeGuy
      @BatCostumeGuy 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Batman doesn't have a heart.

    • @statistics_em
      @statistics_em 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Yet oddly relaxing

  • @ItsmehAlfa
    @ItsmehAlfa 2 ปีที่แล้ว +18

    Gyro... This was the reason for lesson 5... Thank you. I cannot express any other word.
    THE PERFECT GOLDEN ROTATION ENERGY!

    • @Nebulisuzer
      @Nebulisuzer ปีที่แล้ว

      1. golden rotation isn't a thing
      2. it's 1:sqrt(2), not 1:(sqrt(5)+1)/2

    • @mostfinnishperson
      @mostfinnishperson ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@Nebulisuzer its a jojo reference

    • @ULTRAMUERTE_ULTRAKILLJOJO
      @ULTRAMUERTE_ULTRAKILLJOJO ปีที่แล้ว

      ​@@Nebulisuzer we know, but its a jojo reference

    • @patyo
      @patyo ปีที่แล้ว

      @@Nebulisuzer 🙄

  • @Jodabomb24
    @Jodabomb24 3 ปีที่แล้ว +508

    If you watched the Hexagons video and left asking "Is Grey doing ok?", then I don't think this video has answered that question.

  • @thelastcube.
    @thelastcube. 3 ปีที่แล้ว +620

    "Everything physical you care about is an electron cloud creating the illusion of something over nothing"
    I can always count on CGP Grey to humble me to the extreme degree

    • @vyl4650
      @vyl4650 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      If you want to be humbled once more or alternatively have an existential crisis, go watch videos of the depression turtle aka exurb1a

    • @adegboyegaojengbede1818
      @adegboyegaojengbede1818 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      True wisdom humbles.

    • @charliesteiner2334
      @charliesteiner2334 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      It's also misleading. It's not that solidity is an illusion. You can't put your hand through the table just by knowing quantum mechanics. Solidity still works just fine, it's just not what you thought it was.

    • @KnuckleHunkybuck
      @KnuckleHunkybuck 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      *This claim of Electron Cloud is disputed.*
      *There are robust safeguards in place to ensure the integrity of existence.*

    • @aidenstubbs7142
      @aidenstubbs7142 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@vyl4650 I would say yes to this aswell cause he’s mad sick videos. But apparently he’s being accused of some stuff atm that I don’t know the details of

  • @benjaminglazer7217
    @benjaminglazer7217 3 ปีที่แล้ว +442

    He had to put in “hexagonal arrangements of atoms”. We know, hexagon is bestagon

  • @underthesurfacemovies
    @underthesurfacemovies ปีที่แล้ว +57

    This is the video, that convinced me to set up a Patreon account and join the Bonnie Bees. Absolutely outstanding!