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I do the same thing! Though my shapes are different, it's the same. My wife is tremendously bad at math and I kept telling her you have to picture things and sh

I do the same thing! Though my shapes are different, it's the same. My wife is tremendously bad at math and I kept telling her you have to picture things and she said I don't think of it that way, I just see the writing of the number itself and I say "well, that's why you're bad at math!". This is the same thing as map reading or what we do in programming. The thing that's disappearing in this comic: https://heeris.id.au/2013/this-is-why-you-shouldnt-interrupt-a-programmer/ https://heeris.id.au/2013/this-is-why-you-shouldnt-interrupt... I also realized early on that I could count way faster if I fought the urge to say the numbers in my head because the idea of the number would still be there. I started by saying (eh eh eh eh eh) in my head instead of (one two three four five). Eventually you can do things like run your finger across a comb and instantly know how many bristles you passed - that gives you a tactile response for each number rather than the words themselves. If you count by 2s 3s or 5s you can go even faster (which is what the circle is doing in the article). Shortening the "time" axis of the counting.

drBonkers 5y ago
whoa, any additional practice recommendations for whetting this skill?
zesterer 5y ago
I do something very similar, but with power-2 numbers (and have done since my childhood, long before I knew what power-2 numbers were). There's something very rhythmic about counting beats that line up with powers of 2 and I'm able to count things extremely quickly and precisely without even thinking about the numbers I'm counting. When I want to remember how much I've counted, I simply think back at where I am in the rhythm and come up with the results in a strange vibes-ey way I'm not really able to describe (for example, I'll just intuitively 'know' the difference between having counted 32 beats and 64 beats, and then I can use that knowledge to hone in on the precise number I'm at using a sort of mental binary search). I'm sure someone with more knowledge of musical theory or neurology could provide a better explanation, but it feels like I'm somehow taking advantage of whatever part of the brain keeps track of beats and rhythms in music, then using it to count. Edit: I just tried this technique while listening to music and, as expected, I completely lost the ability to count in this way. Almost immediately I lost track, before I even hit 16.

drBonkers 5y ago

whoa, any additional practice recommendations for whetting this skill?

zesterer 5y ago

I do something very similar, but with power-2 numbers (and have done since my childhood, long before I knew what power-2 numbers were). There's something very rhythmic about counting beats that line up with powers of 2 and I'm able to count things extremely quickly and precisely without even thinking about the numbers I'm counting. When I want to remember how much I've counted, I simply think back at where I am in the rhythm and come up with the results in a strange vibes-ey way I'm not really able to describe (for example, I'll just intuitively 'know' the difference between having counted 32 beats and 64 beats, and then I can use that knowledge to hone in on the precise number I'm at using a sort of mental binary search). I'm sure someone with more knowledge of musical theory or neurology could provide a better explanation, but it feels like I'm somehow taking advantage of whatever part of the brain keeps track of beats and rhythms in music, then using it to count. Edit: I just tried this technique while listening to music and, as expected, I completely lost the ability to count in this way. Almost immediately I lost track, before I even hit 16.