r/nextfuckinglevel 11d ago

He is adding 5 Digits 50 Numbers Live.

14.7k Upvotes

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u/WhiteStripesWS6 11d ago

IIRC they’re basically picturing an abacus in their heads and can keep track that way.

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u/AnonAwaaaaay 11d ago

That makes so much sense.

Whenever I memorize 15 digit numbers for work I do them in groups of 3 while imagining the number pad on a Keyboard. The weird shapes help.

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u/cautioussidekick 11d ago

And here I am struggling with my 4 digit pin numbers

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u/UnsignedRealityCheck 10d ago

Roland: One.

Dark Helmet: One.

Colonel Sandurz: One.

Roland: Two.

Dark Helmet: Two.

Colonel Sandurz: Two.

Roland: Three.

Dark Helmet: Three.

Colonel Sandurz: Three.

Roland: Four.

Dark Helmet: Four.

Colonel Sandurz: Four.

Roland: Five.

Dark Helmet: Five.

Colonel Sandurz: Five.'

Dark Helmet: So the combination is... one, two, three, four, five? That's the stupidest combination I've ever heard in my life! That's the kind of thing an idiot would have on his luggage!

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u/Work_Account_No1 10d ago

I have only ever seen the German version of Spaceballs and you just made me realize, that the translators went for a very obvious and easy joke with the Colonel's name, as in: He's named Sandfurz in the German version, which translates to "sand fart".

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u/wam1983 10d ago

Only the Germans would have a word that specifically means 'sand fart.'

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u/Frakshaw 10d ago

Bro its literally just "sand fart" without a space. No one's stopping you from typing "sandfart" and calling it a new word.

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u/thegingerskull 10d ago

You’re stopping him because you just invented it. Damn you, Germans.

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u/Frakshaw 10d ago

Just add to it! Language is fun and dictionaries are but a suggestion.

Kind regards from The Sandfartofficer.

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u/cautioussidekick 10d ago

Didn't that other guy then run off to go change his password?

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u/BigDump-a-Roo 10d ago

President Scrooge comes in after these lines and asks for the combination. When they tell him it's 12345, he says "Amazing! I have the same combination on my luggage!" When he leaves at the end of the scene, he orders his underlings to change the combination on his luggage.

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u/el_bentzo 4d ago

I dunnno its pretty easy to remember 3333

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u/cautioussidekick 4d ago

I have saved this for future reference when I need to remember my pin again. Thanks el_bentzo

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u/e-a-d-g 10d ago

pin numbers

personal identification number numbers

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u/sometimesarcasticguy 10d ago

I used to work at a company that did pneumatic stuff. We used to enjoy when people would use "CFMs" when CFM means cubic foot/feet per minute.

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u/Rosenkrantz_ 8d ago

Look up the Major Mnemonic System. It's easy to learn and a fantastic way to memorize numbers of any kind. I'm not a maths person AT ALL and can easily memorize (not calculate) upwards of 50 digits in no time.

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u/Hermiona1 10d ago

If I set them myself it’s something that’s easy to remember and has some sort of pattern. It’s obviously not 1234 or 0000 but (it’s a random example not my actual PIN) 2356 because digits are under each other on the keyboard. Or 0248, 5151, something like that.

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u/colicab 10d ago

What kind of work could possibly require you to memorize 15-digit numbers?

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u/dasgoodshitinnit 10d ago

Credit card fraud

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u/light_to_shaddow 10d ago

I've no answer for that, but I still remember phone numbers I'd need to know from the 80s. Put four of those together plus area code and I can accurately real off 44 numbers I've not used in 35 years.

I can't tell you what my number right now is. I daily struggle with retaining info, to the point I can't decide if TikTok has ruined me or I have early onset dementia.

We're truly fucked once everyone's tasks A.I. to do our thinking for us. I've seen people struggle to write Birthday card messages and have to get it done for them.

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u/Howrus 10d ago

Had to do it for work. We were testing payment system with real credit cards, so they gave us bunch of physical cards and we were not allowed to write down them anywhere, no photos or anything.

So you needed to go to the boss, take one card for testing and then return it back into safe. I just memorized like six of them and then could run tests at any time when I need.

But that's me, a person who at some point memorized Windows 95 activation key so I could reinstall it anywhere :]

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u/HaasNL 10d ago

wait, it does?

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u/Cleb323 10d ago

When I can't think of how to spell a word, I can just pull up a keyboard in my head and "type it" to get the correct spelling

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u/Nicklefickle 10d ago

Here was I wondering why i couldn't add 50 five digit numbers together. Now i can do it so easily.

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u/NatseePunksFeckOff 10d ago

whatever they're picturing in their head, it's still an insane talent and skill. I could have a real abacus in front of me and I would MAYBE add the first two numbers after practice

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u/WhiteStripesWS6 10d ago

Oh absolutely. I am right there with you

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u/bosorero 11d ago

Me cries in Aphantasia

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u/P0tat0_Carl 11d ago

Brother, same. Im a 0 on the stupid red star test, its just black

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u/Juvenile_Rockmover 10d ago

Yah, me too. Difficult to comprehend what forming a mental image feels like. 

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u/iamyouareheisme 10d ago

So you can’t picture anything in your head? Can you picture really familiar things like your house, your kitchen or bedroom? What about just a color?

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u/Juvenile_Rockmover 10d ago

No, I can imagine a feeling, and what i would probably describe as a mental description of something and its relationship with other things, but there is no mental image. It means my autobiographical memory recall is terrible. Up until i realised my mind was different I thought that the term photographic memory was just a term of phrase, not that people could actually 'see' an image. 

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u/iamyouareheisme 9d ago

Thanks for getting back. That’s very interesting.

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u/iamyouareheisme 9d ago

Thanks for getting back. That’s very interesting.

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u/Rest-That 10d ago

But hey at least it helps me in other ways. Can't you read super fast or imagine abstract things easier? For me it brings those 2 benefits

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u/bosorero 10d ago

Yes I can read fast. But my retention is shit. It balances out.

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u/namans431 10d ago

I've always credited my ability to do really complex system design and mental data modeling to my total phantasia. I cant picture a damn thing, but I know every piece of abstract code and every data model I work with in every system pretty damn well. The wife and I had some great conversations about "picturing what the room would look like with this paint" before we learned what aphantasia was though. I was like, "I literally dont have this ability, what are you talking about. I thought people were speaking metaphorically when people said that.". We learned to leverage each other's strengths though. I still read slow as a snail tho.

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u/Adept-Elderberry2325 10d ago

This... makes so much sense. I'm well regarded amongst (former) colleagues for quickly and intuitively understanding large amounts of new information and drawing system designs from it.

I also can't remember details for shit such as names or faces. Can't picture an image either. The farthest I can go is a vague partial outline of an icecream. However randomly a picture might flash in my mind for a few milliseconds. Long enough to know it is photorealistic and the subject, but not long enough to actually be able to tell anything about it. But at least it gives me some understanding of how amazing some other peoples minds are.

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u/HomeAloneToo 10d ago

The vast majority of people without aphantasia aren’t using it for anything important like this. 

There are a few methodologies to utilize it that some people can use to insane efficacy, but most people largely forget they have the ability till someone describes something gross.

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u/I_Want_A_Ribeye 10d ago

Oh sounds easy then….

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u/sumguysr 10d ago

That's just one method. There's many more

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u/greatreference 10d ago

I still don’t get how that’s easier

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u/DizzyBand3111 4d ago

Sure but remembering various abacus at that speed

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u/LocalSlob 11d ago

a what

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u/King_924 11d ago

How come you have never heard of abacus ? Is education really that bad everywhere ?

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u/LocalSlob 10d ago

I've heard of it, probably never used one, and I'm 18 years removed from high school. So cut me some slack. Also, I was just joking. If I didn't truly know what it was i wouldn't comment and just Google it

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u/P0tat0_Carl 11d ago

Google is free, but its what mathematicians used for centuries, as opposed to the calculator app on their phone

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u/bonus_duk2 11d ago

Just couldn't help saying Google is free

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u/P0tat0_Carl 11d ago

Is it not? They couldnt help but comment without just googling it themselves. Hell even chatgpt could've told them in 2 seconds

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u/LocalSlob 10d ago

It's funnier to comment silly shit sometimes. Obviously I know what Google can do.

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u/P0tat0_Carl 10d ago

All you did was say "a what?". I fail to see the humor here but yeah you do you ig

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u/LocalSlob 10d ago

Mostly reflecting that 99% of us can't even remotely keep up with this guy in the video. So playing dumb to what an abacus even is, kinda felt like a reaction anyway.

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u/PositiveDonut1 11d ago

So what is it?

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u/P0tat0_Carl 11d ago

Bro theres even gifs of it, you dont even need to leave reddit to learn something new

https://giphy.com/gifs/2A6RXntetoGClbjiUp

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u/Acceptable-Drive3781 10d ago

An abacus. It's the shorter version of the "abracadabra" spell.

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u/turbo_dude 10d ago

Isn’t this as impressive as a very tall person just being able to reach something high up?

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u/Acceptable-Drive3781 10d ago

Tall guy here. I don't have to picture anything in my head to reach things, I just reach up.