This is another interesting video not related directly to finance but nonetheless absolutely fascinating. It is five videos so if you cannot watch it all now make sure to bookmark for a later date. I watched through all the videos despite having a very busy schedule since it was so fascinating I could not stop watching.
The video is about Daniel Tammet, since four he has been able to do large calculations in his head. Daniel is a British writer. His bestselling 2006 memoir Born On A Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant, about his life with high-functioning autism and savant syndrome, was named a “Best Book for Young Adults” in 2008 by the American Library Association.
Tammet’s second book, Embracing the Wide Sky: A Tour Across the Horizons of the Mind, was named one of France’s bestselling books of 2009 by L’Express magazine in its March 2010 edition. Tammet’s books have been published in 20 languages.
Below are some of the main highlights I got from the video, but you really need to watch it to appreciate it:
Daniel has been able to see numbers up to ten thousand as shapes, colours and textures. The number two, for instance, is a motion, and five is a clap of thunder. “When I multiply numbers together, I see two shapes. The image starts to change and evolve, and a third shape emerges. That’s the answer. It’s mental imagery. It’s like maths without having to think” Daniel stated.
Daniel can perform complex math without him thinking. He can learn a new language in a week! Scientists are stunned by Daniel, and have had difficulty explaining how Daniel can perform all these tasks with his brain but have described this phenomena as “prodigious savants”.
Scientists have explained his seeing numbers as shapes as synesthesia.
Daniel was able to recite 22,514 digits of PI by heart.
Due to his autism he is a bit socially awkward, he has been able to adapt to this however. He was not bullied much as a child.
He went to New York and watched people playing chess and was able to memorize all moves by the players.
Daniel in the video meets one of the original savants, Kim (there are less than 50 in the world). The savant can tell you the dates, location of almost everything in history or geography. Everything Kim reads he maintains. Kim was the inspiration behind the famous movie, Rain Man .
He mastered Icelandic in a week, which is supposedly a very hard language to learn.
Scientists are now wondering if everyone might have some of the abilities Daniel has, and be able to somehow tap into them.
Below are the five videos, ~ten minutes each:
