A Gift for Math?

[Kat]

Is there a type of witchcraft describing what it is that my great grandma did? She did maths of large numbers instantly without using a calculator. She did it faster than any calculator. thing is, she was illiterate; didn't know how to sign her own name. I'm guessing the maths she did with her mind? You know what that is called? I realised I don't know netsearching; search what? Know more about what? I found mathematical geniuses but none about being done by an illiterate woman.

[Sakura Blossom]

I really don't think it's a type of witchcraft, Kat, at least I've never heard of anything like that. It's called mental math here in the U.S. which is a skill that many can learn - illiterate or not. There are many different tricks to do calculations in your mind.

[AdastraJunction]

Do you mean cult of Pythagoras? A group of individuals who worship mathematical harmonies?

[Kat]

hmmm mental math huh? I'll netsearch that to learn more about it; tnx Sakura. that isn't a type of witchraft? odd; how an illiterate woman of Greece learns that? I had a hope it d be passed on!
Pythagoras I know about and I ve searched. but it's a cult? rly?
all I know is that she was a christian and lived in kostantinopoli -Istanbul how turks call it. so it was a different country. I don't know if that's relevant. meaning if she learnt a thing from turks or from greeks.
any other suggestion?

[SnowCat]

She might have been born with a natural gift for math.

Snow

[Vesca]

She might have been born with a natural gift for math.

Snow

Seconding this.

Math isn't the same as language, it's something you can see in action in the world around you and is solid. Language is man-made and changes from culture to culture, from era to era, and region to region. Language must be taught, therefore writing and reading must be taught.

[Seraphin]

You can learn math even you can't read or write Kat. Some of our grandmas and grandpas here in my place were trained to use the abacus to compute or calculate.

Abacus is a Chinese instrument (also called suan-pan) that presents numbers in a more concrete and visible form. Some arithmetic teachers at that time didn't use numerical figures and symbols but instead used objects to teach their student about numbers. Using the instrument, they could perform mental calculations by manipulating the beads. At first they were taught simple addition and subtraction up to the hundreds and they were allowed to use the instrument. This went higher and more difficult as they progressed.

Do you mean cult of Pythagoras? A group of individuals who worship mathematical harmonies?

I don't know if they taught mental math at that time though I'm aware they were the one who devised for us the formula to unravel the secrets of Mathemagick!

[YanaKhan]

I agree with the others your grandma had a gift for maths, Kat. It's very rare, but I've heard of people like that (I think I watched a TV show about natural gifts once). I know a person who can "see" sounds - like this sound is green or the other pink. I mean, I can't even imagine it, it's hard to wrap my mind around it, but he was a composer and his pieces were reproductions of great paintings (at least he said they were). There is a Turkish artist who was born blind, but his paintings are incredible and realistic too - his name is Ersef Armagan. There is so much to discover about the human brain. Maybe your grandma was one of those gifted people. I don't see any connection with magick either.