Have you ever had a hard time divvying up a bill amongst friends at a restaurant? If so, don't count yourself as one of the world's human calculators. Extreme mathematical capabilities are uncommon, but they certainly aren't unheard of. "Human computers" are tested annually at the
Mental Calculation World Cup.
Among the more impressive mathematical wizards,
Scott Flansburg was dubbed the "Human Calculator" by the Guinness Book of World Records for his ability to add the same number to itself more times in 15 seconds than a person using an actual calculator.
Alexis Lemaire found the 13th root of 85, 877, 066, 894, 718, 045, 602, 549, 144, 850, 158, 599, 202, 771, 247, 748, 960, 878, 023, 151, 390, 314, 284, 284, 465, 842, 798, 373, 290, 242, 826, 571, 823, 153, 045, 030, 300, 932, 591, 615, 405, 929, 429, 773, 640, 895, 967, 991, 430, 381, 763, 526, 613, 357, 308, 674, 592, 650, 724, 521, 841, 103, 664, 923, 661, 204, 223 in his head faster than a person on a calculator. It took him a mere 77.99 seconds—which also happens to be faster than the average person to read the number correctly aloud.
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