Dear Dr. Lim
I don't need to understand
Mandarin to appreciate this. What a Genius this Chinese
Youngster is !!! I Awesome and Amazing…Simply fantastic.....
The Human
Calculator...... !?!
Check out the amazing
mathematical talent of this Chinese youngster
Dear Palan,
Thank you for the video on this math
prodigy from China. It was lodged there for some time and I did not get to read
it until about 3 days ago until I scrolled it down. A lot of mails were also the same. They all
were hidden below the screen due to other junk mails that occupy a lot of
screen spaces. Thanks anyway.
In exchange, I have written my opinion. It
is lengthy, so please take your time to read as it took me almost 2 days typing
my thoughts.
---------------
Most students from Chinese schools are
exceptionally good at mathematic. But this boy went beyond being an ordinary
Chinese math student. I think he is a math wizard extraordinary.
Unlike doctors, and biological scientists,
engineers generally are very good in mathematics. So I asked my youngest
daughter who is both from Chinese school and an engineer on the possibility of
mentally calculating such complex numbers so fast.
She told me there is a way, but need to be
trained from young.
Since she was unable to prove or show it to me, I do not
believe her. I need to think of some alternative possibility.
The alternative is, this boy in the video
is not a human being. I think he is from
another world with another brain far more advanced than ours. I sense he is an
alien who went to China disguised as a Chinese in human form.
No human brain from this earthly world
could possibly calculate such a complex arithmetic at that speed. Do we believe he has a human brain?
Let me explain.
The Human Brain:
An
average human adult has about 100,000,000,000 brain cells. Let me cut short a calculation in
neuroscience to inform ourselves a human brain can execute 20 million
billion (20 million, million, million) calculations per second.
That
is fast – exceedingly fast indeed. But that’s not the point. No computer on Earth, not even the world’s fastest
supercomputer in Tianjin, China is able to supersede the speed of a human brain
for multiple complex functions except for mental arithmetic.
China's Tianhe supercomputer calculates at a drizzling
speed of 33.86 petaFLOPS, or
33.86 quadrillion floating point operations per second. That’s superfast.
Very impressive though for
China, but the human brain is far more complex in structure and function than
that. Why? The human brain has a complex network of billions of neurons (nerve
cells) and a ramification of neurons and neurotransmitters that receive and
send out neurotransmissions, signals, messages and instructions to the entire
body every second of our lives.
The CPU:
The
Central Processing Unit (CPU) of an ordinary desk top computer is 5 million
times faster than the speed of a single neuron. But our brain is not made of a
single neuron, but 100,000 million of them.
Collectively,
this means an average human brain can process information 20,000 times faster
than an ordinary desk top computer. That’s the horrendous speed for a human
brain. That’s even more impressive.
The
brain is extremely complex. It has to perform multiple complex operations such
as the control of speech, hearing, vision, heart rate, blood pressure,
breathing, muscle coordination, decision making, responding to a threat or an
injury. This is far beyond what a supercomputer, let alone a home computer or a
mere calculator can do.
Biological
Orchestra:
Besides,
it also indirectly controls the endocrine organs through innervations (nerve
supply) to these organs in order to control the secretion, amounts, inhibition,
and regulatory control of hormones to the body as well as changing the body
chemistry so that the entire body can function in a balanced and orderly manner
(in homeostasis).
For
instance, the master gland called hypophysis (pituitary gland) is an elongated
appendage of the brain that
secretes numerous hormones, as well as controlling other endocrine glands in
order to regulate the biochemistry of the body.
The pituitary gland is aptly called the
“conductor of the endocrine orchestra”
Thus,
the brain is not created to perform mental arithmetic like a computer or a
calculator.
The brain has to
‘calculate’ and coordinate the complexities of all kinds of physical, chemical,
sensory, motor and other bio-mechanisms exceedingly fast in order for the
entire body can stay defended, alive and
protective.
Conducting
mental arithmetic is not part of brain’s function, let alone calculating
complex equations very fast like a calculator. A calculator is made to do just
this single function.
A Life without
Arithmetic:
In
fact a human being can live his entire genetic life span without doing a single
mental arithmetic. So do all animals
with brains. None of the animals in the wild we know do arithmetic unless
trained to do very simple additions and subtraction in a circus or in an animal
show. The rest of the animals can live their entire life spans in the wild or
in captivity without calculating anything. So do primitive people.
Other
biological functions controlled by the brain to sustain life take precedence
over mathematics.
Priority:
Let
me give you a simple example how threats and injuries to the body takes
priority over mental functions.
Suppose
you are deep in thoughts over some calculations, whether mental, or written.
Let us say someone now touches your hand with a hot iron. Instantly you will
lose your mental attention on what you are doing.
Your
first instant reaction is to withdraw your hand from the hot iron. That is a
reflex action.
The
pain signal will not even have time to go to your brain to let it first
decide. The pain transmission will pass
through the sensory neuron before it synapses across the spinal cord to the
motor neuron to force your hand to instantly withdraw from the hot iron.
When
that protective action is done, part of the stimulus will travel to the brain
to inform it what happened and the action taken. The pain from a hot iron will
instantly causes you lose your mental concentration on arithmetic. That evasive action takes precedence over
whatever you are doing.
However
in the absence of a threat, many other physiological functions such as heart
and breathing rates maybe slightly slowed down when we are in deep thoughts,
during mental exercise and when meditation is in progress. Thoughts require
attention and the rest of other physiological functions maybe very slightly
affected.
Brain Power:
The brain albeit only 2 % of our body weight, actually uses quite a
significant amount of energy for all its activities compared to the energy
requirements by the rest of the body.
In order to summarize some studies by
scientists specializing in brain nutrition or in neuroscience, the amount of
energy a brain uses is about 20 % of the body’s energy requirements. In absolute numbers, this is about 45 joules
(10.8 calories) per hour or 0.75 joules
(0.18 calories) each minute or 260 calories per day.
However,
since the brain’s function is manly electrical in nature, it uses very minute
amount of electricity for its neurochemistry and neurotransmission to
communicate with the rest of the CNS (Central Nervous System) instead of using
heat energy.
Hence,
we need to convert the heat energy (calories) into electricity (mini-watts). Some heat energy is used for metabolic and
cellular dynamics and kinetics and to keep the brain warm and alive.
Extrapolating
this energy transfer, we can say the brain uses about 0.003 calories per
second. This is 0.0125604 watt-sec or 12.5
milliwatts of electricity per second. Even
that must be a highly active thinking brain I should say. The tiny electrical
activity in the brain can be shown on an electroencephalogram (EEG).
Compare
this to about 1800 calories a day requirement for an average adult male for
heat production, heartbeat, breathing, locomotion, biochemical activities, and
other active physical work.
This
means the brain energy consumption is about 14 -20 % of the body’s
requirements.
Another
estimate puts the energy consumption of a human brain around 12 watts for the
whole day or a tiny 0.000138 watt-second or 0.138 milliwatt (mW) per second. I believe is more comfortable estimate.
How to Measure Brain’s Energy:
Since
there are a number of estimates given by various researchers on how much energy
a thinking brain actually uses, there is nothing like investigating this
yourself. But how do we do this?
Let us give ourselves one possibility how this
could be done – at least this would be the way I would do it. You need not
follow my procedure. You can use your brain to think of other alternatives.
This is my way of measuring:
1. First, we would take blood samples from the carotid
arteries from the neck, the arteries that run up to the brain.
2. Next, we would analyze the nutrient content, especially
glucose, oxygen and carbon dioxide contents in the blood
3. Next, we will draw blood again, this time from the
jugular veins that exist from the brain back to the heart after discharging its
glucose, fatty acids, amino-acids, and determine the remnants of oxygen-carbon
dioxide ratios into and out of the brain. Again we will analyze and measure
their contents using various analytical techniques.
4. Next, we will determine the carotid-jugular (c-j)
differences in glucose, oxygen-carbon dioxide contents and ratios, as well as
the uptake of other nutrients?
5. Next, we will compare this difference among various
humans and with other experimental animal models.
6. Next, we will calculate out how much glucose (in
particular) has being used up (metabolized) by the brain from this c-j
differences
7. Next, we will calculate out how much heat energy has been
released in the combustion (metabolism) by knowing caloric values of every
nutrient as we normally do in a bomb calorimeter.
8. Next, we will conduct an autopsy of the brains of each
animals being sacrificed in this medical experiment to determine their brain
sizes.
9. Next, we will use exactly the same animal or human and
measure their body weight, age and sex, and compare their intelligence with
their brain-body weight ratios, etc, etc.
10.
Next, we will do a correlation study to
determine the oxygen consumption, nutrient uptake and match them against brain sizes, brain tissues morphology and
histology, and the intelligence of each experimental animal
11.
Next, we can even trace the metabolic
dynamics on how exactly the sugars are being used by the brain tissues for
electric activities and mental work. This, we can map out using radioactive tracers such as radioactive
carbon tags or radioactive labels on sugar molecules, and see where they go
after entering the brain.
12.
Next, we will perform a statistical
analysis to determine what the coefficient of correlation
(Pearson's measure)
among the variables, or would it be a scatter-gram?
13.
Next, we can determine if there are statistical
differences in all the comparative studies by determining their P values
(example P<0 .05="" span="" style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
14.
Next, if we have sufficient similar studies done
elsewhere, we will combine all the results, and conduct a meta-analysis to
determine how much energy the brain actually uses under varying physical,
mental and physiological states.
Actually if
anyone is interested, this suggestion of mine can be used by him or her to get,
not just one, but 2-3 PhDs by registering with various universities, and write
different thesis.
There will be more than sufficient data in
this study for a few PhDs. It all depends on how he / she manipulates with the
data for statistical analysis and interpretation.
Energy consumption:
Back to our original discussion; out of the
total amount of energy our brain uses (as determined by other scientists using
other procedures), approximately 60 to 80 percent is for mental work, namely
for neural signaling.
Not surprisingly, the percentage is higher
in children whose brains are still developing intellectually. Scientists found
the brain of an infant consumes about 3/4 of available energy, and a 10 year
old child, about 1/3.
Unfortunately the brain of an adult
requires even lesser energy. Maybe the brain of an adult does not think anymore.
Perhaps an adult’s
brain has gone into doldrums and despair once he leaves school or a university.
He does not want to learn or think anymore.
The Supercomputer:
Whatever
the figure, the brain is a highly efficient organ, far more competent and
dazzling than even a supercomputer. Remember what I said earlier, it is our
brain that created the world’s fastest supercomputer, not the other way round.
Let me now compare the energy requirements of a supercomputer.
The
IBM's Watson supercomputer requires ninety IBM Power 750 servers, each of
delivering 1000 watts. That is 90 000
watts or 0.09 Megawatts.
China
has the world fastest supercomputer. Her Tianhe-1 supercomputer consumes more than 4.04 Megawatts
(4,040,000 watts or 4040 kW) of electricity.
So we can now understand how
little electricity our brain uses. Of course a modern calculator that can
calculate complex math equations uses very little electricity. In fact it works
on penlight batteries.
Do Not Disturb:
The tiny amount of energy we use in
thinking, calculating or doing mental arithmetic cannot be distracted away,
else we no longer can think properly. Let me give an example.
A
student who is studying or taking an exam cannot be distracted by noise, people
talking, laughing, someone shouting, or by any other disruption, otherwise he
cannot concentrate.
That
is why in an examination hall when students take an exam, measures are normally
taken to ensure the hall and the outside environment are kept silent without
distraction. No outside people are
allowed near the hall. Traditionally we know this but we may not understand
why, because we do not think anymore.
Thinking brain vs.
computer logic:
A
computer or a calculator in contrast is entirely different. It has none of
these biological functions to contend with.
Their only function is to process binary bits of zero and 1 which are
binary digits using “off” and “on” switches and these are controlled by
electronic “gates”. This makes them
remarkably faster than a thinking human brain that has to process a100 trillion
neural, cellular and other biological signals per second.
This is far more
complex than binary bits of zeros and 1.
Computers and calculators do not have this biological
ability.
According
to neuroscientists, our brain with its 200 billion neurons containing 125
trillion synapses in the cerebral cortex alone can process 20
million, million, million (20 trillion) calculations per second. This is
another way of putting it.
As
I said earlier, if a human brain has no other function to perform except mental
arithmetic, it can calculate far faster than even the most powerful computer on
Earth.
Which
calculator or even a supercomputer can handle that kind of ‘living data’?
A
computer cannot recognize biological information such sugar and adrenalin
levels in the blood, speech, hearing, vision, heart rate, blood pressure,
breathing, muscle coordination, decision making, etc…etc. A human brain can
understand complex logic, not a computer or a calculator. It is an entirely
different scenario.
But
if the task is just analyzing binary digits of 1 and zero, a computer can
execute them far faster. Unfortunately, it is not capable of recognizing
anything more than this. It merely works
by using ‘on’ and ‘off’ switches to activate a long series of ‘one’ and
‘zero’ to represent the digits such as the example below:
·
0=00000000
·
1=00000001
·
2=00000010
·
3=00000011
·
4=00000100
·
5=00000101
·
6=00000110
·
7=00000111
·
8=00001000
·
9=00001001
·
10=00001010
·
Etc, etc
Data
into Images:
A computer can also change images into data
so that it can be read. But the image need to broken down into pixels. Images
are made of millions of pixels. The more pixels an image contains, the sharper
it is, and more details can be read by a computer. Each pixel represents one
color.
Computer logic is quite lengthy to explain
here, and it is quite different from the way our brain logically understands
and plan, execute, and manage images, sounds, heat, light, and other stimuli
through step-by-step operations. Our
brain is thus far, far more complex than a computer or a calculator on this alone.
How a brain thinks
and calculates:
The
brain with its 100 000 million neurons receives and transmits electrical and
chemical signals through its long ‘transmission wires’ (nerves fibres) that
link it to the different parts of the body like the network of wires from one
computer to the next. The brain is counterpart of a CPU (Central Processing
Unit) of a computer.
The
“wiring” from the brain to the rest of the CNS is very complex with so many
spinal nerves emerging from the spinal cord. Innervations to the various organs
involves the neurons (nerve cells), which itself have the soma (body), axon
(“wire”) and the dendrites (nerve endings).
We
will not go into intricate details all those complicated neurophysiology,
neurochemistry and neurotransmission as they
involve DNA, endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria, ribosomes, myelin
shield, peripheral
sensory and motor nerves, myelinated and non-myelinated neurons, etc, etc.
Learning this
during my student days gave me headache, let alone trying to explain them here
after so many decades. However, we can briefly
discuss this below.
Anatomy of Neuroscience:
Scientists tell us a human
brain consists of some 200,000 million nerve cells (neurons) as mentioned
earlier. These are linked together by trillions of connections called
synapses. Each time an electrical
impulses discharge across a neuron, they have to pass through these synapses.
Each neuron is wired to
1000 different switches that route the electrical impulse.
In total, a human brain could
hold hundreds of trillions of these neural pathways. All these “switches” and
“wiring” make up the human brain.
The brain on a gross scale
is made up of several larger compartments. Each compartment specializes in
different neurological functions. Let us
look at some of these compartments briefly.
Lobes of a brain:
These compartments are
lobes in the cerebrum. The cerebrum is placed above the rest of the brain. It
specializes in the control of oneself, in organization, in thoughts and
reasoning. This is an outer part which is highly convoluted with a layer over
it. This layer is called the cerebral cortex where most of the brain activities
are performed.
There are of course
many lobes in the brain. For instance, there is a temporal lobe responsible for
perception, recognition of hearing, memory, speech. The Wernicke’s and Broca’s
areas are for the management of language, movement, and emotions. Problem
solving in mathematics and science are located in this region.
There is also the
occipital lobe where visual stimulation is situated. Probably the most
important area is the hippocampus at the basal part of the temporal lobe where
things like learning and memory are located.
There is also the
thalamus mass of gray matter in the forebrain where sensory and motor functions
are controlled. Practically all sensory stimuli enter here which is then sent
to the cortex for processing.
Memory, language
ability, cognition, emotional characteristics are located in the frontal lobe.
The medulla oblongata is the lower segment of the brainstem. It controls
autonomic functions, such as breathing and blood pressure and heart rate.
As mentioned earlier, these functions are controlled by 200,000 million nerve cells that are
wired together by trillions of other connections called synapses. Which
computer in this world has all these complex network of wiring and switches
that can stretch from Earth to Jupiter? Only a human brain is capable of
storing such highly complicated networking.
Interestingly for mathematical calculations and mathematical talents,
this seems to be located between the right and left parietal lobes. Einstein
brain seemed to be about 20 % wider in this area.
But
suffice to say our brain is like a computer linked by cables to other
terminals, except the brain and the CNS is far more complex than all the
network of computers linked together.
Let
us look at how much memories can a human brain hold?
Tom Landauer tried to estimate this in
1986. He inferred that the brain storage capacity is approximately about 200
megabytes of information. (Landauer,1986). The capacity depends on our age,
learning capacity, education level and how intelligent we are.
However, I feel
that nurturing a child during his formative years is more important than if his
brain is left alone to mature on its own by nature. It is Nurture versus
Nature.
Landauer derived at 200 megabytes in part
by looking at the speed at which people could acquire information through
reading as well as by looking at pictures. He examined rates at which people
forget things, and the amount of information adults requires in order for
people to perform their day-to-day duties.
The data he got in gigabits, not gigabytes,
were 1, 0.8, 3, 0.4, 2.0, 1, 0.4 and 0.5 gigabits. If averaged out, and divided
by 8, it generates 227 MB.
Since the brain has between 1012
and 1014 neurons, this implies that for each bit of memory, the
brain mobilizes 1,000 to 100,000 neurons.
But that does not mean the brain uses them
only for memory or mental work. A major
part of the brain’s role is for perception, motor control, and other regulatory
functions as already mentioned.
A Trillion Nerve Cells:
Scientists tell us that a
human brain consists of some 200,000 million nerve cells (neurons) that are
linked together by trillions of connections called synapses. Each time an electrical impulses discharge
across a neuron, they have to pass through these synapses.
Each neuron is wired to
1000 different switches that route the electrical impulse. I need to repeat
these few sentences several times above and here to impress ourselves.
In total, a human brain
could hold hundreds of trillions of these neural pathways.
All these “switches”
and “wiring” make up the human brain which in turn is made up of several larger
compartments that specializes in different neurological functions. Let us look at these compartments briefly.
The Lobes:
These compartments are
lobes in the cerebrum. The cerebrum is placed above the rest of the brain. It
specializes in the control of oneself, in organization, in thoughts and
reasoning. This is an outer part which is highly convoluted with a layer over
it. This layer is called the cerebral cortex where most of the brain activities
are performed.
There are of course
many lobes in the brain. For instance, there is a temporal lobe responsible for
perception, recognition of hearing, memory, speech. The Wernicke’s and Broca’s
areas are for the management of language, movement, and emotions. Problem
solving in mathematics and science are located in this region.
There is also the
occipital lobe where visual stimulation is situated. Probably the most
important area is the hippocampus at the basal part of the temporal lobe where
things like learning and memory are located.
There is also the
thalamus mass of gray matter in the forebrain where sensory and motor functions
are controlled. Practically all sensory stimuli enter here which is then sent
to the cortex for processing.
Memory, language
ability, cognition, emotional characteristics are located in the frontal lobe.
The medulla oblongata is the lower segment of the brainstem. It controls
autonomic functions, such as breathing and blood pressure and heart rate.
As mentioned earlier, these functions are controlled by 200,000 million nerve cells that are
wired together by trillions of other connections called synapses. Which
computer in this world has all these complex network of wiring and switches
that can stretch from Earth to Jupiter? Only a human brain is capable of
storing such highly complicated networking.
Interestingly for mathematical calculations and those with mathematical
talents, this seems to be located between the right and left parietal lobes.
Einstein brain seemed to be about 20 % wider in this area.
Brain is more
Superior:
As
mentioned earlier, China's Tianhe-2 supercomputer is the fastest in the world.
It calculates at 33.86 petaFLOPS (33.86 quadrillion
floating point operations per second, and yet with its awesome calculating
speed, it is said its computing power is less than 1% the power of a human
brain. Why is this so?
Why is it so tough for
even the world fastest supercomputers to match the computing power of a human
brain? Simply put:
1.
It is a human brain that
created a supercomputer, not the other way round. The human brain is a superior
thinking brain over an inferior creation? A supercomputer does not have that
kind of fantastic volume of ‘wiring’ of neurons as a human brain.
2.
As
I have explained, a human brain has hundreds of thousands of other vital
functions to manage every second of our lives. A computer or calculator need
not have to do all these. It can only recognize binary bits. It cannot perform
highly complex assortment of biological functions.
3.
A
computer or a calculator can shut down if not needed, but a living body cannot
afford even a short moment of biological rest. If it does, it will irreversibly
shut down the entire body systems.
4.
The
brain tolerate no more than 3 minutes of anoxia (without oxygen). It dies after
that. A calculator or a computer can shut down anytime after saving the data. A
brain once shut down losses all data and memory.
In brief, no calculator, computer,
supercomputer, or artificial intelligence or robotics can parallel, let alone
supersede a human brain in thinking, cognition, intellect, in language, art,
science, mathematics, philosophy, rationality, reasoning, intuition, and
logic.
Scientists have already created robotics
to do multiple tasks, including doing housework, serving as waiters,
exploration, seeking out bombs and dangerous areas, medical applications like
surgery and tiny probes into the body for investigation, and even for military operations
and cyber wars…etc.
But all these robots still need to be
programmed by humans for each task. However, attempts have been made to create thought-controlled prosthetic limbs by implanting electrodes connected to the bones and nerves of amputees so that the artificial limb can be controlled by thoughts. But that still requires the human brain to control the prosthetic to function at the will of the wearer. It cannot think on its own. Nerve impulses still need to come from the brain to the prosthetic limb telling it what to do. The brain is still the master, the artificial limb, the servant.
They are also now trying to create artificial intelligence and robots that can think for themselves. That might still be light years away. Meantime none of these ‘thinking robotics’ can match a human brain in thinking.
They are also now trying to create artificial intelligence and robots that can think for themselves. That might still be light years away. Meantime none of these ‘thinking robotics’ can match a human brain in thinking.
1.
A living brain is created by God,
2.
A human brain in
turn invents artificial intelligence.
3.
No way can we
beat a Supreme Being who created us in the first place.
4.
In turn, no way
can a computer create a human brain.
5.
Any brain
that calculates as fast as a calculator or faster does not belong to a
human species
It’s an Alien Brain:
Notwithstanding the amazing calculating
speed an electronic calculator, you will notice even the electronic billboard
shown in the video took some moments to calculate the results. That genius boy took slightly longer. He is a
super wizard in mental calculations. We can envisage the power of his brain
which is so uncharacteristic of a human brain.
He must be an alien from another world in
human form? I do not think he is from China either. In the past there were a
few such math prodigies from India and elsewhere who can calculate complex
calculations within several seconds. We are not sure how their brains work?
Continuous Calculations:
I wonder if that boy can perform
mathematical “iteration” which normally can only be performed by a
supercomputer. Do not confuse the term “iteration” with “integration” in
integral calculus.
Iteration in math means substituting an
intermediary result in an equation back into the original formula because of
shifting parameters in an ongoing reaction.
Examples are the changing parameters taking
place in the interior of the Sun, or in the stars, or in a nuclear reaction
where scenarios change in pico, femto or in attosecond. A supercomputer has to
catch up with the recalculations as the parameters change. That’s is “iteration”
Supercomputers are also used in stimulating
the creation of the Universe during the first few seconds in beginning of time.
It is used also in molecular designs of drugs, weather patterns, space flights,
etc, etc.
These applications require powerful supercomputers
to execute, the faster the computer, the better “to keep up” with changing
limits during exceeding fast reactions.
A Test on Myself:
Just to test myself how fast I am able to
calculate out a complex equation using a calculator (not mentally), I randomly
generated out an equation, and noted the time I needed to perform it.
Here is the arithmetic I randomly generated
just for fun.
In (8.937) x log (789 853) ÷ 39
√ (569 815 893 17) - 47 √ (789 696 548 0455)19 + 39
√ 569 815 893 17 + 13√ (log 723 094 379 128)67 - 5Ï€13
=??? (Ï€13 = Pi 13)
Even using a scientific calculator it took
me some 20 minutes, not because the calculator was slow, but I was. But why was
I slow?
First, I have not used a calculator to
perform such calculations before. It has no practical applications, except for
academic interest. Hence, I am not familiar with keys I hardly use.
Second, I think hardly anybody uses a
calculator to perform this sort of arithmetic in their daily life. Almost
everyone use a calculator just to add, divide, multiple and divide for buying
and selling their merchandise. That’s all most of us do.
Hardly people go beyond simple arithmetic
except for rocket scientists, physicists, chemists, research scientists,
engineers, biometricians, or doctors conducting medical research. They need to
handle biomedical and statistical analysis or complex mathematical equations.
Third, I need to locate and understand
which keys to use, and how to operate them
Fourth, I need to take care where I place
the brackets and the order I need to input the figures into the
calculator. They must be placed in their
right sequence, example: what is within the bracket must be calculated first.
Fifth, I need to study the order of the
log, In (loge), multiplication, division, nth root (n √),
exponential (xn), addition, minus signs and the brackets placed
before and after them. This takes time even with a calculator.
The equation is quite complex, and if the
figures are not keyed in the right order, the results will be erroneous.
Fun with Math:
Most youngsters use their smart phones to
play games, but hardly anyone uses a calculator to figure out answers for a
complex equation just for fun.
To me meddling with a calculator is like
engaging in a game of chess to determine every move. The results can be very
interesting and rewarding (to me).
I found it took me some 10 minutes just to
understand the special math keys I seldom use.
Then it took me another 10 minutes just to
key in those long digits. That slowed me down considerably. But the calculator
can actually calculate the input very fast, except parts in the equation that
is astronomically huge and complex, or it was processing add-on intermediary
results.
Here is the answer to my math formula:
-
(minus)
14338588.44
I have triple checked it, and the answer
was consistent. But my answer may still be wrong if I erroneously input the
long digits on specific keys.
Check it out:
Later after a few tries, I learn the right
keys and the order of the inputs. I then managed to get the results within 2.5
minutes instead of the initial 20 minutes.
It was not the calculator that was slow,
but it was my slow, old brain working. I believe my old brain energy output
must be less than 0.1 milliwatt per second working out this self equation.
Perhaps some young math wizards out there
who are fast with calculations can check out my results. Let me know if mine
was correct?
Try find out how long you take to calculate
out the formula by first attempt (use a scientific calculator). Time yourself,
and repeat it after many tries.
Mine was over 20 minutes first shot, but it
was shorten to 150 seconds after learning the right keys.
Most of the time taken during my first
attempt, I was looking for the right keys, how to use them, and testing them
out. Maybe you are more familiar using a calculator.
Good luck, and have fun with math like I
do.
Just before I sign off, here's a U-tube of a superhuman who remembers events faster than a computer
Enjoy yourself with alien brains
Just before I sign off, here's a U-tube of a superhuman who remembers events faster than a computer
Enjoy yourself with alien brains
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nki1uWTUNdI
lim juboo
