The Sin of Addition

[muninx]

I'm beginning to wonder if there's a form of dyslexia that only applies to numbers. I've been doing the daily costs/earnings reports for my company, and while most of it is automated, there is still a part of it that requires me to do simple addition by hand. Three different totals from three columns of numbers, every day. Well, in the 15

Comments

[bella_felis]

I'm not sure what it is about numbers, but they just don't hold anything memorable for me. If I look at a string of words, I have the capacity to memorize it based on the images it evokes in my mind. Even if I don't know what a word means, the letters still have a "feel" to them that I can grab onto, or I can infer what the word means from context or a Latin/Greek root. But when I look at numbers, they are absolutely meaningless. Just symbols. I have to rely solely on spatial memory (almost like taking a mental photograph) to recall a number. I could get a sequence of them mixed up and not ever know. At least words have syntactic rules to prevent that from happening in most cases.

I know exactly what you're talking about, and I can't explain it any more clearly. ><

[bella_felis]

Also: icon

[evox3]

I don't remember numbers either and I'm a math guy. Working symbolically is infinitely easier. I fucking hate numbers.

That being said, the world does eventually devolve into concrete data, but its more important to realize that the ability to sum numbers consistently is infinitely less important than just the ability to sum a number once. Doing things repetitiously is prone to error, but you understand the concept.

Basically what I'm getting at is NOT using an Excel spreadsheet to sum a lot of numbers is silly. Working inefficiently, doing error-prone tasks, while the tools to make them faster and more consistent are readily available is, as the VW commericals say, a "dumbkopf" move.

In essence, Sam, congrats on being smart.

[arichi]

Others encouraged you, and I should too. And please accept my [abstract] encouragement.

So I skipped the encouragement to try to show you something cool math related. Your comment dyslexia on made me think of this.

19 backwards is 91.
19 * 91 = 1729
1 + 7 + 2 + 9 = 19

... which backwards is 91, and so on.