What is the highest number anyone has ever counted to?

Answer 1

Well, for my part, I just recently counted past (decimal) "one and a half million" ("1,519,616" to be "exact"), and am still counting (and I have relied very little on writing down where I am as I count). I am actually counting (at present) in a base that I could be called "balanced base-sixty-four" or "quadrosexagesimal"; and - in that base - the number would be "6¯d00". In "base thirty-two" or "duotrigesimal", it would be "1ec00". I started this particular counting project about a year and a half ago now, and - God willing - will keep counting at least until I reach (decimal) 33,554,432 - which is "1,00000" in duotrigesimal or "20000" in quadrosexagesimal.

(By the way the over-bar "¯" indicates a negative rather than positive value, the symbols "c", "d", and "e" represent decimal "12", "13", and "14" respectively. So, for example, "¯d" represents decimal: "negative 13". Also, in base sixty-four and base thirty-two, each "place" to the left represents a power of decimal "64" and "32", respectively. Therefore, thequadrosexagesimal value: " 6 ¯d 0 0 " equals decimal 6*64^3 - 13*64^2; and the duotrigesimal: " 1 e c 0 0 " equal decimal 1*32^4 + 14*32^3 + 12*32^2. Furthermore, quadrosexagesimal "20000" equals 2*64^4 and duotrigesimal "1,00000" equals 32^5.)