[QUOTE] Tammet is calculating 377 multiplied by 795. Actually, he isn't
"calculating": there is nothing conscious about what he is doing. He
arrives at the answer instantly. Since his epileptic fit, he has been
able to see numbers 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."
..... Last year Tammet broke the European record for recalling pi, the
mathematical constant, to the furthest decimal point. He found it easy,
he says, because he didn't even have to "think". To him, pi isn't an
abstract set of digits; it's a visual story, a film projected in front
of his eyes. He learnt the number forwards and backwards and, last
year, spent five hours recalling it in front of an adjudicator. He
wanted to prove a point. "I memorised pi to 22,514 decimal places, and
I am technically disabled. I just wanted to show people that disability
needn't get in the way."
FROM: http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,1409903,00.html
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