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    A4 Paper Is Too Perfect

    CGP Grey

    2 HN recommenders · recommended in 4 months, 2024–2026

    YouTube

    8:44 · 11M views · Mar 26, 2021

    CGP Grey explains the elegant ratio of A4 and the metric paper sizes, then zooms out across scales from the Planck length to the observable universe.

    Loved for its zoom-out tour of physical scales and recommended alongside other paper-size and scale-of-the-universe discussions.

    Mathematics & Theoretical CSRecreational & visual mathPhysics & space (other)
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    5 comments from Hacker News

    1. @ProllyInfamousJan 2026· in “A4 Paper Stories”

      You beat me in posting this (I searched for "CGP," first — you mispelled so I didn't see your comment). ---- My favorite CGP Grey video is Metric Paper... , which explores the vast (but limited) world we live in, from plancs to observable universe. [•] < this video > Before generative AI videos, this had been what I considered "the most psychedelic experience one can have without doing drugs ." It's still a trip ...

      Strongly recommendsView on HN
    2. @ProllyInfamousApr 2026· in “God Sleeps in the Minerals”

      Zoom out, too: [CGP Grey - Metric Paper] < this video > - among my favorite videos Yet even Plancks remain analogue ...

      Strongly recommendsView on HN
    3. @jihadjihadJan 2026· in “A4 Paper Stories”

      CPG Grey has a video [0] that goes into some, let's just say deeper , detail into metric paper that is well worth a watch if you haven't seen it. 0: this video

      RecommendsView on HN
    4. @bogtogApr 2024· in “Scale of the Universe”

      I think this Zoom in/out physics story has pretty widely been told. Here is one by CPG Grey: this video I like the one OP linked here. All the objects being clickable with a little description is nice

      CitesView on HN
    5. @xanthFeb 2024· in “Making a PDF that's larger than Germany”

      Related CGPGrey video comparing metric paper sizes to comparable objects from the plank scale to the galactic[1]; could have been an XKCD comic [1]: this video

      CitesView on HN