Reader Maria Thomas writes in regarding my post The Morality of Zeroes:

I once heard Rahm Emanuel’s brother, Zeke talk about just how hazy our understanding of numbers really is. His way of putting figures into perspective was the following example:

1 million seconds ago: last week

1 billion seconds ago: Richard Nixon resigns

1 trillion seconds ago: 30,000 B.C.

I thought it was a fabulous illustration and one worth sharing.