Posts

Showing posts with the label Number Theory.

The Blackboard In Your Mind - Part 2

Image
Image via Wikipedia  In our last thrill-packed episode of Braintenance , we discussed the benefits of doing arithmetic calculations ("chain calculations") without the assistance of computers or any extrasensorial visual aids. The problem in the re-posting of the last show, yielded an answer of 28 [or at least it should have]. Most people's biggest challenges are not the arithmetic at all -- the challenges are 1 ) memorizing a string of data, and 2 ) recalling the string in "pieces" ("fractional recall") when going back to check or reaffirm our computations . One hint which might prove helpful is to visualize the entire string as if it were placed at the top of your mental blackboard for reference, and to do the individual calculations below. In this way, you can trick your mind into having a source of embedded reference to go back to. By doing this, you'll have less problems worrying about 'losing your place,' during the computational pro...