March 1, 2007
Daniel Tammet, Brainman
Experiencing numbers as colors or sensations is a well-documented form of synesthesia, but the detail and specificity of Tammet’s mental imagery of numbers is unique. In his mind, he says, each number up to 10,000 has its own unique shape and feel, that he can “see” results of calculations as landscapes, and that he can “sense” whether a number is prime or composite. He has described his visual image of 289 as particularly ugly, 333 as particularly attractive, and pi as beautiful.
comments
I have this documentary on tape–it’s great. Especially the parts about his way of visualizing numbers and also the part in which he learns the Icelandic language in a week and actually goes on a Tv show in Iceland and talks to all present. They were astonished and so was I. I’ll loan it to you Deron, if you don’t have it already–
I’m watching it right now on youtube and it is knocking me over. I’m having to take a break.
That’s fascinating, Deron. I love it.
Me too. It reminds me in a way of the book you quoted from about the mathematician.
And then there’s the Polish chess master, Miguel Najdorf, who played 45 opponents simultaneously and blindfolded–and came out with a record of 39 wins, 4 draws, and 2 losses. Others have faced more opponents, but this feat is considered to be tops due to the win/loss record and the caliber of players.
Daryl, that is amazing! I’ve never heard that story. How did he assess the boards with his eyes closed? Did people tell him what was going on? Was he allowed to touch the pieces and the boards?
Oh, Deron. It is indeed amazing. But, as I’m sure Daryl can tell you, the world of chess is replete with wonders. Blindfold chess contains many, but by no means all, of them.
Deron: Sheila is right–the chess world is full of odd feats of this sort: things like people who are able to sit down and re-create the exact sequence of moves of more than a thousand past games & etc.
The way blindfold chess is often managed is like this: a very long table is set up with many boards set up on it and chairs on one side. Players take their seats and the blindfolded chess master starts at on end of the line; usually the master gets to play white which moves first, but sometimes even this aspect is randomized. So the master calls out a move and the seated player moves the piece for him, and then the master moves down the line in like fashion. When he or she gets back to the start the seated player calls out his or her counter move, and the sequence goes on from there with finished games dropping out. The chess master “sees” the games, and also the place they occupy at the table. These days the same thing is sometimes accomplished with an audio system, in which the chess master is not even in the same room.
Daniel finds the number 289 very ugly but does not say why.
289 is hte square of 17.
17 is the number of cycles
per second that will cause
a siezure in an epileptic.
I was totally surprised that being a number person
he made no mention of this
in his recent 60 minute special. He is a remarkable person.
Tom: That’s a great detail you have observed! I wonder what 289 “looks” like to him? He speaks of lots of numbers that move in a specific direction when he views them, or that wiggle in some way. I wonder if 289 has a kind of background flashing going on in it?