If Dollars Were Seconds…

How much is a trillion dollars? For most of us that’s a really big number. It means a lot, and then, it’s so big, it doesn’t mean much. 

At some point long before the hundred-billion-dollar mark, large numbers simply become figures on the page, well beyond human scale and intuitive understanding.

A common strategy for beginning to understand big numbers is to use visual representations.

Let’s say one dollar equals one second.

  

One million seconds comes out to be about 11½ days. A billion seconds is 32 years. And a trillion seconds is 32,000 years. We might all have a fairly good idea what we'll be doing a million seconds from now. Most of us have only a vague idea what we'll be doing a billion seconds from now. And, let’s face it, we all pretty much know exactly what we’ll be doing a trillion seconds from now."

Using this logic, our $2.9 trillion in healthcare costs—this year alone—equals 93,000 years. Hmmm...

Let’s turn these numbers around. Here’s an idea. Actually, it’s more than an idea—it’s in the works. We’ve launched a Kickstarter Project, “Well-done, The WellnessManifesto.” This project is all about defining a positive, single action that will be embraced by enough of us to become a very powerful collective action. It can be BIG!  Click Here to see what we mean.

What we're proposing really is exquisite in its simplicity. It only asks that we all get involved and play our parts to make it happen. This is a simple concept, yet one with the potential to change the healthcare landscape.

Prevention and involvement are the only way to turn our healthcare crisis around. While simple, this Kickstarter project is not one of the fun projects most people familiar with Kickstarter want to back. It is however, one of the most important. And, those $2.9 trillion dollars (those 93,000 years) make it absolutely necessary. That’s a lot of dollars and a lot of time. Wouldn’t you agree?  Are you in?