ON TRYING TO GRASP THE MAGNITUDE OF BIG NUMBERS . . .

Big numbers are notoriously difficult to grasp.   What Jo Craven McGinty wrote helps me quite a lot:

There are 1 million seconds in roughly 11 1/2 days.  

There are 1 billion seconds in around 31 years.  

And there are 1 trillion seconds in around 31,000 years.