Allen:
Is it possible that he picked up on a pattern of change in the
digits and was using a IF <x> THEN <y> type of algorithm to
predict the next values?
The miracle is being able to produce a string of 22,500 words
that are comprised of only 10 words.
Ken
Allen Esterson wrote:
On 10 January 2009 Rick Stevens wrote:
I recorded this show and show it sometimes in class.
His '22,500' places of pi is billed as a memory event
but I have wondered if he was not 'just' calculating as
he went along. [...]
There is no straightforward formula for pi that he could have used to
calculate as he went along. (Not at the rate he was going all the way
through!) See, e.g., Leibniz's formula
pi/4 = 1 - 1/3 + 1/5 - 1/7 + 1/9 - 1/11 + 1/13 - 1/15 + 1/17 - 1/19... ad
infinitum
(For the later decimal digits for pi he would have had to have calculated
hundreds of these terms for every digit -- and then add them together.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leibniz_formula_for_pi
Hands up all those who think pi = 22/7. :-)
Allen Esterson
Former lecturer, Science Department
Southwark College, London
http://www.esterson.org
****************************************
Subject: Re: The Boy With The Incredible Brain
From: "Rick Stevens" <stevens.r...@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 10 Jan 2009 08:29:54 -0600
I recorded this show and show it sometimes in class. His '22,500' places
of
pi is billed as a memory event but I have wondered if he was not 'just'
calculating as he went along. Chao Lu may still hold the record at 67,890
places.
I found his meeting with Kim Peek to be interesting, too.
RS
On Fri, Jan 9, 2009 at 8:04 AM, Christopher D. Green
<chri...@yorku.ca>wrote:
See this film about a "savant" in England who can recite pi to 22,500
places, do extraordinary math problems in his head, and learn new
languages
in about a week.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4913196365903075662
He has Asperger's, but unlike most savants, he is quite high functioning
interpersonally.
There is more information about him here:
http://www.mindhacks.com/blog/2009/01/inside_the_mind_of_a.html
Chris
--
Christopher D. Green
Department of Psychology
York University
Toronto, ON M3J 1P3
Canada
416-736-2100 ex. 66164
chri...@yorku.ca
http://www.yorku.ca/christo/
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