That's so stupid.

He was given 4 examples of square numbers, so he should have known what they are. He could then have taken each one in turn and tested it ... hmmm 16-1=15 NO, 16-4=12 NO, 16-9=7 NO, so it ain't 16.

(BTW some definitions include 0 as a square number, in which case they are all correct)

lol, but they said also a sum of two lesser square numbers, not the sum of two square numbers of equal or lesser value. 

Yeah I mean how easy can it get? He had all the time he needed, its a multiple choice question, and all the numbers are less then 100. All you need to know to solve this is your times tables from 1 to 7!

I have a feeling he didn't know what a square number was.

But what I find even more disturbing is only about 20% of the audience voted for 25. Not good at all.

Last edited by mikau (2006-05-10 08:40:36)

Well, as long as you know what a square number is, the problem should be easy. So he probably didn't know (or forgot!). But I remember square numbers being introduced quite early in school... 20%? And I thought it was horrible around here.

I saw a video on youtube or something, the other day, from a classroom. It was math class(basicly 19/20 were asian), and in the background, some guy was reciting alot(!!) of pi digits

Last edited by Patrick (2006-05-11 00:28:41)

That list is amazing. Imagine actually spending time to learn the whole thing.

I believe anyone can tell the first 50 from the top of their heads with enough practice, it's not that hard. But above 100, or even 10,000 I just don't understand. They can't be human

I believe you're talking about Daniel Tammet, and the siezure your talking about is from epilepsy. I saw this documentary about him some time ago. He could calculate, what I would consider hard calculations, in his head. If he was to multiply 20342342 by 2394028340, he would see the two numbers as shapes, and graduately start to decypher the shape that was formed between these two shapes. That shape would then represent 48700143249972280. When it comes to pi, he had a very special 'relationship' to the number. He explained it as a landscape of mountains, where the gaps would represent a digit. Some expert in the field of brain analasys(or whatever they were) did a study on him, and found out what they thought to be the answer to the mystery. During that siezure he had when he was little, connections were made between two parts of the brain. One which handles maths, logic, etc. and one that handles emotions. .. That's how I remember it anyway

I guess what that means is, that he is actually doing the calculations in his head, but because of that connection that has been made, he's not aware of what exactly he's doing, he just feels the result.



*edit* That site also holds records in digits of

Last edited by Patrick (2006-05-11 04:15:05)

verily creepy!

Is it a little boy? if it is, I think I've seen it too