folkertTue, Dec 18, 2007 Enjoyed reading this post, your comments on the future of human thought and potentially increasing its potential through art and music reminded me of a 2005 article in the Guardian on autistic savant Daniel Tammet who can perform mind-boggling mathematical calculations at breakneck speeds. This is perhaps not unique among autistic savants, but here is the beauty of this particular case:
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."
Seeing "numbers as shapes, colours and textures" and the fact that Tammet is actually performing these tasks makes me wonder what kind of "algorithms" lie at the basis of his mathematical artform and if there could be any hope of decoding these into states that might be reproduced.
I wonder what these shapes might look like in his mind, I like to imagine them looking like Richard "dr." Baily's Spore experiments, and of course it helps his site is called Image Savant...
Imagine the following images as "solutions" to mathematical problems:
Enjoyed reading this post, your comments on the future of human thought and potentially increasing its potential through art and music reminded me of a 2005 article in the Guardian on autistic savant Daniel Tammet who can perform mind-boggling mathematical calculations at breakneck speeds. This is perhaps not unique among autistic savants, but here is the beauty of this particular case:
Seeing "numbers as shapes, colours and textures" and the fact that Tammet is actually performing these tasks makes me wonder what kind of "algorithms" lie at the basis of his mathematical artform and if there could be any hope of decoding these into states that might be reproduced.
Full article: A genius eplains
I wonder what these shapes might look like in his mind, I like to imagine them looking like Richard "dr." Baily's Spore experiments, and of course it helps his site is called Image Savant...
Imagine the following images as "solutions" to mathematical problems:
· Wikipedia page on Daniel Tammet
· link to the Guardian article
· more of Richard Bailey's work at imagesavant.com