How good are you at memorizing numbers?

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I had always thought memorizing long strings of numbers was something for people like savants to do, but I decided to try it today. After a few minutes of practicing I memorized e to 26 digits: 2.7182818284590452353602875. I also decided to memorize the speed of light, which was a lot easier, 299,792,458 meters per second. I think with a little practice I could memorize a few hundred digits easy.

I wonder if most people who regard number memorization as an abnormal skill just haven't tried it before, or if you need a certain mindset to do it. I wonder if it's easy for me because I already view the world through a series of patterns and not words.

Last edited by Mage on 01 Aug 2008, 12:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I'm great at remembering numbers but average at remembering strings of words. I know a bunch of people who are the opposite way.

numbers are easy. but i'm more of a pi person than e. i have pi down to 1000 digits which isn't that difficult once you get into the rhythm of reciting.

Yes. But it depends on how the numbers are administered to me.

If I'm supposed to memorise for a few seconds or several minutes or if I am being told the information slowly (such as 1 number at 1 second), I'm average to below at it.

I need to look at a sequence only 1 or 2 seconds or hear 2-3 numbers said in 1 second. Then I easily remember it. My immediate information intake is enormous and very fast compared to average, but when I'm given only just a few more seconds to memorise it I lose it.

I can easily remember sequences of 15-20 digits in a moment, but beyond that I haven't yet tried for how far I can go without trouble. I wonder if numbers are different from melodies or notes? I'm good at remembering entire sheets of notes now that I can read them.

Last edited by Sora on 01 Aug 2008, 4:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Yes I'm good at remembering numbers. A good thing considering as I have to remember quite a few batch numbers at work on a daily basis. People at work are mystified as to how I can remember a batch number after looking at it only once (batch numbers are usually 10 digits long or more). An example of where I think having AS comes in handy.

I suck at memorising phone numbers... I don't even know my own cell phone number (and I don't care) But it's very easy to memorise Physical or Math constants like e, pi, boltzman, electron, proton and neutron mass, 1/7, ... I have a bunch of these numbers that I have never used, but it's in my memory like "special passwords to universe" lol.

Maybe I can only memorize when I feel it has any important meaning. And maybe I don't wish people calling me on my phone.

I remember numbers without even trying. I have memorized some of my mom's credit card numbers just by using her cards a couple times. I also accidentally memorized my student id number for college and it was just in my head when I needed it. I also happen to memorize phone numbers accidentally with out knowing who's number it is only finding out later when I come across it.

Well, a few minutes for 26 digits isn't THAT great, and how LONG did you remember it without reciting again? BTW PLEASE realize I am not belittling the feat, or saying it was bad. I am simply saying that it won't make the news for being a fantastic feat.

I might not be able to hold a candle to any of you. I don't know. Sometimes, I have gone a day or even a week seeming to remember every number and password, and remembering some decades later. Other times, I have to WANT to remember it.

ALSO, like sora, don't start throwing numbers/details at me real quick and expecting me to remember them. One thing I even seem to forget about myself, and apparently it is common with almost everyone, is that my working memory is tiny, and it takes a while to have it move to a higher level.

Alaspi,

How long did it take you to learn 1000? I think I won't go any further than the 50 I have! BTW the 6, that I bothered to remember as a kid, did me FINE, and I think I used it more than any 5 randomly selected non mathematicians/mechanical engineers/architects in a room PUT TOGETHER!

Still, I certainly wish my memory was better.

I remember what is interesting.

I can remember certain dates of when a movie is released, or I can calculate and mulitply numbers in my head when my Mom asks me what is what plus what (or subtracted by or added to). I also tend to memorize what was the box office movie was (I read box office mojo.com).

And do you remember where you...OK too young for for Kennedy's assassination; I know were I was when I heard the news: in front of a television.

Wait, I did say the opposite. Just corrected a typo in the first paragraph, but I said it in the 2nd anyway. I said that the more time to memorise, the worse I am. I need information thrown at me extremely fast to be be able to remember it.

If I were to stare at a chequerboard for minutes, I'd hardly be able to remember where more than 3 pieces stood while I short glance with no matter how much time in-between seeing and remembering enables me to keep the position of a lot more pieces in mind.

I think it's because while memory works fine, the processing and sorting of my memories is going differently than average. Usually learning and training makes enables people to keep things in mind such as long sequences of numbers, but when I do that, I forget the sequence as soon as it should tap into the memory of days or weeks and years.

I good at remembering what I hear, phone numbers etc... I dont know if I could memorize such long strings of lnumbers, but I'm pretty sure that if I miss one I will notice.

I am pretty good at phone numbers, though I used to be better. For some reason a ten digit phone number is easier than some other 10 digit number (even with area codes I'm not familiar with). I have no idea why knowing it's a phone number helps me memorize it.

I don't memorize the numbers per se but the colors I associate with each number, so I am seeing a pattern of colored squares lined up against each other.

I'm very good with finger memory. If I type a number, or pretend to type it (because I have the keyboard memorized as to how it feels) I can remember it better. I can remember phone numbers for years, even longer than the person who has said number will once they've moved away, and I never forget birthdays. However, long strings of numbers that don't have any particular relevance to me and that I never write or type more than once don't stick with me.

I think I'm really opposite in this, actually, because I'm number dyslexic ^_^. I can't remember phone numbers, and have to remember my PIN number as letter substitutes otherwise I'd forget it in an instant. I work in a library and I have trouble with fax numbers, library card numbers and sequencing or filing that involves numbers more than 4 digits long. It's quite hopeless really.

I see a string of numbers and it's like they skip around or become unintelligible. I can't focus on them at all and if there are several of the same number together I have to stop and manually count with my finger or something to make sure I don't misjudge.

On the other hand, I'm linguistically inclined and am teaching myself Japanese. I've been learning a year and a half and already know enough kanji to read books and understand them.

BUT...though I speak French and have never had trouble with languages at all - I have trouble interpreting phone numbers, years etc when spoken in a foreign language. Although I know all the words for numbers up to about a million in French and a fair way i Spanish, Japanese, etc...I still find it hard to process. I wonder if that's connected or just psychosomatic.

Words = great.

Numbers = forget it.

Although I was quite good at maths in school...you tell me how that works ^_^

Apple