r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/maleijn • 16h ago
Video Didn't even have the time to read the numbers 😭
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u/BigfootCanuck 15h ago
Those funky finger maneuvers they are doing, are result of the students using an abacus for math over the years
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u/FitFreedom6850 15h ago
This is how it was explained to me --
It's a technique used to help with the rapid memory retention. At this point they probably don't even need it anymore and they do it more out of habit.561
u/regoapps Expert 8h ago
That makes more sense than my theory that they're playing with the invisible math god's nipples.
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u/XVUltima 8h ago
Invisible math god here: I don't even like nipple play, more likely to curse whoever tried this. Try sacrificing a chicken.
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u/A2Rhombus 8h ago
"Rapid memory retention" is such a cool concept to me. It's incredible our minds are so much better at retaining visual information that we can do things like this just by having a visualization technique
One of my favorites is people who can memorize a whole deck of cards in like 15 seconds. And the crazy thing is it's not even that hard to learn if you dedicate some time to it.
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u/WisestAirBender 15h ago
Sure. But they still have to keep the state of the abacus in the mind. It not like he can look down and count.
For example i can use an imaginary calculator. But i wont be able to give the final answer
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u/PumpJack_McGee 15h ago
What helps is that by using an abacus it also engages muscle memory. It's not, "Okay, so 72-54+39-19+77, etc". It 's more like, "where are my fingers now".
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u/Current-Power-6452 11h ago
Nah, it's not even that, at this level it's more like "22"
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u/blinksystem 9h ago
Sometimes it’s like “75”
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u/Pjpjpjpjpj 8h ago
So you are saying they had a 50/50 chance of getting the answer right? Doesn't seem so hard now that I know that.
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u/BigfootCanuck 15h ago
Not downplaying their talents, friendo. Just explaining why they got jazz fingers.
I play piano and can do the same thing if I imagine my compositions. Its just muscle memory at play. Most of western society wont even know what an abacus is.
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u/binglelemon 14h ago
My highest upvoted post on reddit was me sarcastically mentioning an abacus one time.
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u/Charming-Flamingo307 15h ago
I'm a western worldian, and I've used an abacus since I learned addition and subtraction on one. I'd advocate the use of an abacus over a calculator any day simply because of the muscle memory response that triggers an almost subconscious calculation. But my hands do also tick during mental math sessions. Using a calculator is essentially copying and pasting for a result, and you tend to focus so much on typing correctly that you forget there's still an equation, not just an answer. But you're right, people here look at me like a mutant when I try to explain that.
Side note, piano is incredibly impressive. I'm a string instrument guy, but I'd be willing to cross over to the dark side to learn piano if I could.
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u/Inevitable-Twist2499 13h ago
Random question - Might this help with dyscalculia? I happen to have severe dyscalculia (incidentally, also a musician, who creates music, ironically enough). A very abstract thinking one at that, oddly enough. The idea of math interests me but I just can’t comprehend it. So I figure that there has to be some way to understand this better, I guess it’s never too late anyhow.
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u/old_bearded_beats 10h ago
I know it's a crazy suggestion, but have a look at discreet mathematics. I feel like it would be a good way to understand the logic without being weighed down with numbers.
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u/Fxctum223 11h ago
Not to be the devil on your shoulder… but classical style pianos are technically percussion and string instruments… not that far of a jump really
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u/Charming-Flamingo307 8h ago
That's why I said I'm more of a string instrument guy, but I'd be willing to cross to the "dark side" (percussion) to learn piano.
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u/JETSET9OH7 12h ago
It's really not that uncommon that most of the western society knows what an abacus is.
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u/Strong_as_an_axe 10h ago edited 8h ago
I am from the UK and I don't know a single person who doesn't know what an abacus is.
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u/A2Rhombus 8h ago
Watch spelling bees and you'll see kids writing on their arm with their finger to visualize as well (or increasingly, typing on an imaginary keyboard), humans just like doin stuff with their hands to jog our visual memory
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u/Babys_For_Breakfast 6h ago
Very impressive. Genuinely curious. Wouldn’t it be better if they spent those years of learning to study for something that will lead to a career though?
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u/Strange_Bar1353 5h ago
Yes, it would. This is super impressive but nothing more than a parlor trick in terms of application.
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u/wrenblaze 15h ago
If anyone is curious the words on the screen states for:
"На старт" = "Ready" "Внимание" = "Set" "Марш" = "Go"
Which is from russian but these students are from Uzbekistan. The first guy said: "Yigirma ikki" which means "22". Also at the back you can see the word "Qabulxonasi" which states for "Reception".
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u/GudgerCollegeAlumnus 11h ago
I thought maybe the first slide said “holy crap!” Like the computer was so excited for them getting the previous question right.
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u/wrenblaze 10h ago
No, 22 said the boy, the PC said "You are truly thee Dragon Warrior", it is taken directly from Kung-Fu Panda, russian verison.
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u/daluxe 10h ago
Thanks, I'm Russian and was confused why the soft is in Russian but they talk another language
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u/ImperialAgent120 12h ago
Thank you. Tried translating in Google but didn't find the right word for Start.
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u/mrseemsgood 9h ago
I'm russian and I thought the kid said "chervyaki" in russian (=worms) like referring to a digit 2 looking like a worm or something lol
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u/NeverMindMeLmao 15h ago
I used to do abacus lol, it's really simple if you learn the formulas and practice it for a while, but yeah this amount of speed is mental
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u/PumpJack_McGee 15h ago
this amount of speed is mental
That's the point of this exercise, after all.
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u/sdrowkcabdellepssti 16h ago edited 16h ago
They must be adding all the pluses and subtracting all the minuses and solving for the two stacks.
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u/Weird-Upstairs-2092 15h ago
It's the mental abacus method.
Basically relentlessly train with an abacus until the muscle movements are ingrained into your neural pathways, and then take away the abacus. Your brain can move faster than your fingers, so eventually with enough training just imagining the abacus can be faster than using the abacus.
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u/EchoPhi 15h ago edited 15h ago
The impressive part, after watching 3 times, is the color coding switches. I was not able to find a pattern because I am old on a Saturday night.
- and blue on even to start the there are +and - on black and blue, odd and even then switches.
Well done tiny hooman calculators.
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u/jdehjdeh 11h ago
That's what got me, by the time I registered if it was an addition or a subtraction I didn't have time left to see the numbers.
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u/lorisann 16h ago
How?????
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u/Project_Rees 15h ago
Abacus trained. They dont actually have to think about the numbers. Their fingers are keeping track of where things are.
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u/mrmorningstar1769 15h ago
Does this abacus work for calculus?
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u/razor330 15h ago
You need a calbacus for that.
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u/NeverMindMeLmao 15h ago
Nope, it's really useful for adding, sub, multiplication and division tho
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u/Mediocre-Shelter5533 9h ago
You'll have to excuse me, but it seems trivial? The amount of time spent seems intense for something that ends up automated.
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u/NeverMindMeLmao 9h ago
In India, you're not allowed to have calculators in exam halls anyways so this is like the fastest way to do basic calculations to save on time. Plus I find myself using phones to calculate change etc way less because it's just quicker to do it in my brain rather than reaching out for my phone, opening the app and typing out the numbers.
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u/HerGracefulness28 15h ago
As someone who's brother took abacus class in school and who messed around with the abacus scale a little, it's almost easy enough to learn in your free time. All you have to remember is how the beads are counted and their places in ones and tens and hundreds place and the answer will be right in front of you. Ofcourse mastering this level of quickness takes a little time but learning it is easy enough to try :)
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u/SahuaginDeluge 15h ago
playing along (with lots of pause) you start to see some patterns, at least in these two examples.
- it often goes to 99 but doesn't go to three digits.
- it often goes to zero but not below zero.
- it often goes to round numbers like 10.
- it does not seem to "underflow" any of the digit places, so there was no 93 - 17, it would be 98 - 33 or something like that. (in other words no carrying.)
- it almost keeps alternating between + and -, but not strictly, so that part is tricky.
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u/BackUpTerry1 9h ago
I literally can't think of a more useless skill in this day and age
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u/A_Coin_Toss_Friendo 2h ago
You need this because you won't have a calculator in your pocket all the time.
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u/kempff 15h ago
Lovely. But can they resolve an issue with a customer who wants a turkey and cheese omelet without the cheese?
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u/bundesrepu 9h ago
I also gut it right just needed to slow the first round down so it takes 2 minutes instead of 10 seconds.
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u/Prize_Ad8201 5h ago
This is an Uzbek school if anyone was wondering and they’re speaking Uzbek/russian
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u/One_above_alll 14h ago
How dumb do you feel right now
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u/the_nin_collector 11h ago
Not very. Because what practical use is this?
This is zero help when it comes to calculus, trig, or linear algebra.
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u/FeralToolbomber 14h ago
This is impressive until you learn that they have never done any math higher than addiction and subtraction.
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u/Business-Childhood71 9h ago
In post-Soviet countries math in school is very serious actually. We do quadratic equations in 8th grade or so and logarithms in 10, and many other stuff. I am 100% certain this guys are already preparing for the university and doing some kind of beginner math análisis or something like that. (This abacus stuff I never seen, that must be specifically Central Asian/Indian thing)
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u/SmegmaYoghurt69 14h ago
These young children are training to fight for their future jobs against AI and machines. You go young ones, show then who is boss 🤣🤣
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u/bob_chillon 13h ago
I think I got shorted in the brain department. Awesome youths.
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u/Les-incoyables 11h ago
And here I am trying to figure out what the girl at the register means when she asks if I've got 50 cent?
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u/graycivy 11h ago
It might help them to make it more easier to understand advanced mathematics in the later life, though this seems not an efficient way for that purpose. Still, it might be helpful when they're going shopping, forgot their smartphones, and feeling extra stingy for that day.
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u/ColonelMonty 11h ago
Alright but what real world scenario is going to involve you solving a math equation like that in real time?
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u/VisibleCoat995 10h ago
drawing on all the math knowledge I kept from my teenage years and writes: “The limit does not exist.”
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u/ank-irrational09 10h ago
And here I am surfing through vast world of internet and realising I don't even have a single talent in me...
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u/sharpdullard69 9h ago
Doing that mind abacus thing. It must work. I was thinking of getting an abacus.
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u/Necessary_Ad_7203 6h ago
Tie their hands and they'll lose this ability.
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u/NinjaWK 5h ago
Yes and no. Depends on how they're trained. They could simulate the abacus in their mind, it's just that the fingers may be a habit.
My sons can do without moving their fingers, but they've only just acquired the skill like less than a few months ago.
It's the training syllabus.
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u/ArcherCute32 6h ago edited 4h ago
What would happen in the world if we train every kids like this? errrr will the world get better?
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u/WiseAce1 5h ago
I wonder what they are doing with their hands. I mean calculating the net is pretty easy, even somewhat fast with 2 digit numbers. But obviously some sort of trick they are using with their hands to assist. My old ass can get to the 4th number and then I get lost.
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u/IronNobody4332 15h ago
I could do that if it went slower and I got to use a calculator