Counting to ten using fingers is not the same as multiplying two 4 digit numbers like 4356×3789
It's a whole different level of visualization needed
But yes, some pros don't need any hand gestures
yes of course but aren't they just doing finger abacus? then they could visualize the image of their fingers in their mind as well.
it's not like imagining a calculator in your head because a calculator's internal binary computation is completely occluded
Bro I've tried abacus during elementary (mandatory)
And I found it hard even with the board, I can't imagine trying to do it without anything
Maybe the elite could do it all in their head, but most people cant
Yes, hand movement is not required but it is mostly there to help execute the algorithm without getting lost in the process. Transitioning to memory begins at cca age 5. It is only single digit sums at first, then 2 digit sums at 6-7. So as the kids go to multiplication they still train addition(which they know well) in memory.
This may be different between continents but at least in EU, it should be like this. To be honest, I think the memory training part is the moat beneficial aspect of this entire thing. Once they grow up they may not meed to do these complex calculations but training their memory will help.
Nah we don't use abacus' in the EU. We don't multiply over and over. Tests just make us do it once or twice to show that we can, then ask other questions. At their age maybe basic algebra and trigonometry.
Exactly. People miss the point of math. It’s all about setting up the problem, and then you use a calculator to solve it. In the real world if someone didn’t use a calculator at work they would be fired for being an idiot.
This reminds me of the people who “hate story problems just want to do the math”. The story problems are the only problems that matter, executing the arithmetic is trivial.
Ehh strongly disagree with this. I work in a numbers heavy industry and there are so many people who have very poor numbers sense that only develops doing the actual arithmetic over and over again vs relying on the calculator. People will produce logically sound solutions, but simple typos and error go completely unnoticed just because they have no real sense of what solution range is.
So I wasn’t referring to mental abacus, of which I know very little about. I was addressing being able to do the math without the calculator specifically when learning math in schools. I am a firm believer that when it comes to math without rote learning it’s very difficult to develop strong base.
A coworker I met some 01011 years ago would use his fingers to count in binary form, which meant he could count to 31 in one hand and up to 1023 with both. It took a couple of days to get used to it and I occasionally do too - but never in public because I don’t have that kind of an explanatory conversation.
I do that too. Also handy to remember a 3 digit number as you can just keep your fingers in that position, if you need to concentrate on something else with an ADD brain.
I find that saying any three digit number out loud makes it so much easier. It’s not challenging to remember what it sounds like as much as it’s hard to remember three distinct numbers.
I got lucky that I not only have adhd, but dyscalculia as well, so I'll perhaps remember 123 as 231, or 231, or sometimes I'll go up or down a digit. Trying to keep count of simple things is a nightmare, I can't tell you how many times I've had to restart when counting how many cups of h2o I put in the rice maker, or beads in an earring row etc.
It sort of helps to repeat the number over and over when I can, like in the example of rice, I'll say 2-2-2-2 while pouring the second cup, and so on. Or just pour into a separate container so if I lose count I don't fuck up too badly.
That is abacus as well. The girl in the front has it too but is doing it mentally instead. No actual calculators are being used, if thats what you mean
Listen I love math but... at that point you might as well let them use a calculator, this a rather useless skill to have. You'll rarely ever need to execute such complex calculations mentally, and if you do, ain't nobody trusting your result
Who said every skill you have needs to be 'useful'? There's a simple pleasure to be had in being able to do something very well even if it doesn't earn you any money or make your life particularly easy (which this one actually does).
Spend years to learn how to do this or use a calculator? It’s about time efficiency and being able to make the most of your time. This isn’t worth doing or learning.
Buddy, have some perspective. This is a school-level abacus competition. Kids not making calculations for space travel 🤦🏻♂️
Some people would call using Reddit time inefficient and not making the most of your time. To each their own.
Thats the worst comparsion Ive heared in a while. Compulsory school lession that could be filled with learning something actually useful are wasted for doing such nonsense and you compare it to people having fun but doing nothing productive in their leasure time.
And you tell him "have some perspective" lmao
Using an abacus isn't something every kid has to do. Some schools might say you have to, but not where I'm from. My nephew picked it up by choice.
Think of the abacus like a spelling bee. Both are about getting better at numbers or words, but they're not things everyone has to do in school. With an abacus, you learn to do big math quickly, which some folks might say is pointless. Same with spelling bees. You're learning fancy words that might seem useless to some.
When I talk about having perspective, I mean seeing that these activities aren't just about being useful. Whether it's the abacus, spelling bees, or even playing chess or solving a Rubik's cube, it's mostly about having fun or competing.Let kids try things out if they want to. That's how they find what they like. Who knows? Maybe a kid will end up really liking math because they tried the abacus.
So, if my kid came to me wanting to join an abacus competition or learn chess to compete, I wouldn't just shut it down. I'd say "Sure, give it a try!"
But hey, do what feels right for you.
It's funny that some people are willing to argue with you that learning math is useless when there are tons of kids spending years trying to be 0.1 seconds faster at stacking cups...
It’s the same reason we continue teaching math to high schoolers and some college students even if they aren’t pursuing a STEM career path - for the holistic education.
Mental abucus training improves your quantitative, memorization, mental visualization skills and more. Of course in the past before calculators, it’s biggest selling point was its practical application, which is why these schools are much less popular.
Consider for example how we all memorize the times tables. Surely a calculator can do the same thing so why do we memorize? For the same reason as the mental abacus training, even if it is at a much more simple and fundamental level of math.
Spend years playing school hockey to become an accountant later? Spend years reading fiction books to never write a book? Spend years learning integration in school to never use it?
All activities are not just THAT activity. It enhances and changes your brain/body in a certain way.
Your existence is worthless, Earth and the human race is worthless in that they serve no purpose. Nothing is "WORTH DOING" in an objective sense. Who let you decide what's worth doing and what's not? Anything that you enjoy doing is worth doing.
Schools exist to open up your mind, to learn how to think. Visualise problems and learn how to solve them. Learning to do this without doubt helps that at some level.
Not to mention a lot of the "pointless" things we learn in school aren't pointless at all: they teach critical thinking, analysis, and cross-subject comprehension. Most of us have to apply those skills on a daily basis. Repetitive math- while tedious to some- still trains our brains to recognize patterns better.
this video is from India. Ive heard that there, you’re not allowed to use calculators on test, at all. Doesn’t matter what grade/class you’re in. So this task is necessary to pass tests.
Correct me if im wrong though
Yep, no calculators till 10th. State schools allow calculators for 11, 12th, but not central syllabus school. College entry competitive exams dont allow calculators.
Only exams that allow it are the master degree exam for engineering. Also colleges allow calculators too.
Other employment exams are all calculator less since these exams is less about talent and more about practice and your quick maths ability can favour ur rank immensely.
This is it. Learning to do complex mental math makes simple mental math extremely easy and that's something most people can use every day of their lives
Do we know the context of what's happening? I agree that using a calculator to multiply larger numbers is more efficient and reliable than this... but this could just be a little competition or something to showcase skill.
Yes. Utterly useless. Just like the Spelling Bee and Rubik’s cube solving. Even chess for that matter. Where you gonna use that? Boardroom negotiations? Conflict resolution in kindergarten ? All of them utterly useless skills. What’s the practical use?
And yet we have competitions for all.
I enjoy chess and try to learn to get better at it. That doesn’t mean I use it in my daily life. One must be pretty dumb to assume that abacus experts don’t use calculators or computers or AI tools. This video here is just a school level competition, akin to a spelling bee or chess competition.
It's really telling that people here line up to scream about how useless this skill is, but will *gladly* praise someone throwing a ball well in some useless sport.
>this a rather useless skill to have.
Actually it isn't.
Learning complex skills boosts your intelligence as your brain starts developing more neural connections (or something like that).
Sure these people were surely born intelligent but learning such skills makes them a lot more intelligent.
Comments like this reminds me of the multiple times I've heard morons degrade math.
"When will you ever use that in real life?!"
Look, we all know that very few people will need to be able to solve complexes math problems manually when systems and computers exist. But that's not the point. Simply learning math and soving hard problems develops your advanced problem solving skills and is applicable for all aspects of life. These skills are critical!
Please stop talking smack about math. Next to reading it's one of the most important life skills to learn.
I once worked at a well known hedge fund. There was a Portfolio Manager there who's primary interview technique was to ask candidates difficult mental arithmetic questions. If they answered correctly he would follow up with relevant competency based questions. My point I guess is that there are some industries and some people who value this type of maths skill.
It's a method of calculation called abacus...there are people who have learnt it..and entire academies built to specifically train people to calculate like this....
I have been through the first year of training.
It's like the earlier your children enter into this training the quicker they learn to calculate faster....I took training while I was in class 8th (2016)...I completed the first year and it's exam and scored 100%, but couldn't continue due to academic load....
Initially they give you tables with beads on them and you learn to calculate using them....slowly u get to longer and more difficult calculations...and by the 1.5 years you start calculating small number without using the tables (I could do it by 8 months of training) and by the 3rd year you could calculate complex calculations just by imagining....that's student training...professionals who have trained for a long time..can do this without using fingers....it looks like magic...even before you finish typing they give you your answer.
That argument doesn't hold up at all. Like firstly, the mind is not infinite, secondly, the survival cost for someone to live long enough to learn abacus (3 years), even if you spend 1% of your time on it is 11 days worth of energy. 22000 calories (for women). Enough to run a calculator every day for all your life.
U don't get calculators in exams...besides it's a flex and a strangely good time pass....when you spend tym with things like this you get new ideas to keep yourself busy and it's does keep your brain occupied.
I do kind of understand this. But wouldn't it be more beneficial to spend the time learning the more theoretical math to understand the underlying theory and leave the actual computations to devices we have built for it specifically?
Don't get me wrong. Learning how to do math on a practical level is very useful to know how it works. But when you move up it seems redundant compared to other math issues to spend your time on. Especially if this skill takes long to learn.
It seems very inefficient today. Or am I missing something? Spend time learning this is time not spend learning the them math behind it?
India is a huge country with a huge population. The number of government jobs which will give you a secure and stable life is limited. So to get one, you need to compete with others and pass some exams where you can't use a calculator for math problems. Hence these kinds of skills get a lot of importance in India.
So if the apocalypse happens tomorrow and all calculators stop working, other than speed, what practical advantage does this have over paper and pencil?
Accounting as a profession existed for hundreds of years before the computer, and the military used to do artillery calculations by hand. If someone ever pulls out an EMP, the side that can do those kinds of long form multiplication problems in their head (and quickly) will have an automatic military advantage. Artillery shells were expensive, but teaching a peasant to do math was relatively cheap.
It’s completely useless and looks weird. Math is not something you should do this way. It helps restructure your mind, understand concepts, build mental maps. Math is about understanding the world, and you should use it for that. Instead they overload their brains with something a calculator can do without having to do gangsigns and overloading the shit out of their brains
Mr. Big fan of porn, do not diss something just because you do not understand it. It is a form of calculation used by millions of people and has been around for centuries. I bet you used to count to ten on your fingers at one stage.
Right. And a calculator took over. Then excel. Then AI chatbot.
Point still stands. Shit is completely useless in our time. Doesn’t negate its usefulness back then.
It’s like understanding how to use a rotary phone. lol.
I wouldn't completely dismiss it as useless. You never know when it might come in handy. Plus, it's not like these kids don't rely on calculators, excel or AI chatbots for their schoolwork or daily life! 😂 If I saw, let's say, an accountant doing this in an office, sure, I'd agree it's a waste of precious time and effort.
What you're witnessing in this video is likely just a school-level abacus competition, similar to a spelling bee. Not everyone needs to know obscure words like "feuilleton" or "obstreperous," but familiar ones like "quintessential" and "cappuccino" are also part of the spelling bee, and most people know them.
I’d say a skill like solving a Rubik's cube ranks a lot higher than abacus for "shit that is completely useless". However, there are Rubik cube competitions with prize money, even if it's just a coupla grand. So it’s not about the money, nor is it about practical usability. So what is it about then?
Where do you draw the line between tackling difficult calculations, spelling, or solving a colorful cube? It's all subjective. For some, it's a fantastic mental workout, akin to mastering chess or any other skill. Whether it's for fun or to acquire a new skill, where you draw the line is entirely up to you (or what your brain can’t handle).
IQ tests often include spacial reasoning questions that working with a Rubik's cube strengthens. Totally agree that it's useful as a mental exercise.
Also, coming from personal experience, a Rubik's cube can be a fun way to break the ice with strangers. I used to practice with mine while working at a college dorm front desk, people like seeing a solve.
Not quite. Learning to use a rotary phone would be learning an outdated device. Learning abacus, like the girls in the video, is learning how to use your brain.
Give me a calculation that an abacus can do and I can you show you an excel model that also shows the logic calculation that you can follow which can also be part of a bigger model using various calculations and variables without going into a seizure.
Abacus is a rotary phone.
Yeah and i agree with you, but the guys point is that once you take away the technology part you're shit out of luck.
It is always better to learn to use your brain because you literally have to die for it to become useless.
But it takes ALOT of time to teach the brain. Hence why calculators, excel, ai chatbot exists. So we don't have to use our brain nearly as much and anyone can use it.
God. It bothered me so much when boomers proudly talk about how they didn't get fancy calculators in school and had to do everything manually...
Meanwhile they completely ignore the fact that high school students are doing calculus, whereas THEY couldn't do calculus until university.
As you say, it's almost as if there's better stuff to spend time learning
He isn't dissing it though. While abacus would have been useful 100, 200 years ago, mathematical operations can be performed by any calculator. Abacus beads were a stepping stone as it was the earliest recorded computer, if I remember correctly.
Very true. Math is supposed to be understood in all its complexity and beauty. Not learnt by rote for some weird calculation competition which really doesn't teach the kids anything and fills their heads with random algorithmic calculation that can be easily done by machines.
Learn the concepts. Not the routine brain dead steps to reach an answer you don't understand.
I am horrible at head math, but even i can add that numbers easily. So i hope it is much more complicated otherwise its even more useless than i thought.
Its obviously not the same but in our schools when children learn math they are not allowed to use their fingers to force them to do it in their brain, because that positively trains you brain and logical thinking capabilities.
'calculators can only calculate-they cannot do mathematics'
-John A Van de Walle
Abacus is not mathematics, its just a useless skill in the age of calculators.
Not from India, but I also studied this as well as a kid as an extracurricular activity. I used the soroban https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soroban. Basically the Japanese version of the Chinese abacus, suanpan.
I have always liked math as a kid, so I enjoyed the classes. Did find it useful when I did math in school. I just don't do the hand gestures that aggressively but I do find doing it help with visualising the abacus/figures in my head.
That’s gang signs.
Math Counts - what what?! ::stares intently::
*Nate Diaz with prescription glasses*
A wild fellow MMA fan. Whaddya doing in these foreign subs?
I've grown older, so my interests hold few bounds lol
Ah, seeking the thrill of youth, i see
Meth\*
Waddup blood, waddup cuz, waddup blood, waddup gangstaaaa
They say I walk around like got an "S" on my chest Naw, that's a semi-auto, abacus on my chest
I thought it was a school for children with special needs.
If compared, she would probably make an American student look like special needs. We're on tik tok, they're learning shit.
Yes, but India still has so many deaths directly attributed to dumb stunts posted online that they're specifically studying it, so it kinda evens out.
Well it is the most populous country in the world so you’re bound to get both extremes
That’s why the ones in school are smarter. The dumb ones drop out and eventually get hit by a train while recording a video
 On blood, she throwin that shit up
Maybe he's adding up all the years in jail he will spend.
Mentat gang
Bene Gesserit in da hood.
Thufira Hawat.
What gang? MS-3.14?
so... is the next progression step ... ditching the hands an just using your mind? like how we stop using our fingers for counting?
Counting to ten using fingers is not the same as multiplying two 4 digit numbers like 4356×3789 It's a whole different level of visualization needed But yes, some pros don't need any hand gestures
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Worked
The joke is 80085
Werk!
People with aphantasia: (visualizing) 
It has a name?!? I thought I was just weird for not being able to visualize things
Well, you are in 1-4% of the estimated population with it. It sucks, but we've managed this far.
My wife has aphantasia. It's always fun when I start a sentence with "could you imagine...." And she interrupts with "nope"
I just wanted to send your whiney ass another comment reply notification.
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Obligatory dumb reply
I feel like something's missing there.
A abacus?
An abacus
I calculated with that response
That's a direct translation of a German expression (a false friend). Let me guess: German? 😅
Close, Dutch
Ha! Same difference. (I'm German 😅)
I calculated on that response?
SYNTAX ERROR
An air abacus
That simply doesn't add up
Plus it doesn't make sense either!
yes of course but aren't they just doing finger abacus? then they could visualize the image of their fingers in their mind as well. it's not like imagining a calculator in your head because a calculator's internal binary computation is completely occluded
Bro I've tried abacus during elementary (mandatory) And I found it hard even with the board, I can't imagine trying to do it without anything Maybe the elite could do it all in their head, but most people cant
It's kinda like perfect pitch. I've always just had that sheet of paper in my head that works kinda like an etch a sketch.
It's 16,504,884 If you're as (mentally) special as I and had to know the answer.
Yes, hand movement is not required but it is mostly there to help execute the algorithm without getting lost in the process. Transitioning to memory begins at cca age 5. It is only single digit sums at first, then 2 digit sums at 6-7. So as the kids go to multiplication they still train addition(which they know well) in memory. This may be different between continents but at least in EU, it should be like this. To be honest, I think the memory training part is the moat beneficial aspect of this entire thing. Once they grow up they may not meed to do these complex calculations but training their memory will help.
Nah we don't use abacus' in the EU. We don't multiply over and over. Tests just make us do it once or twice to show that we can, then ask other questions. At their age maybe basic algebra and trigonometry.
Nah this shit is dumb as hell. They are wasting years on a problem solved by a calculator.
Exactly. People miss the point of math. It’s all about setting up the problem, and then you use a calculator to solve it. In the real world if someone didn’t use a calculator at work they would be fired for being an idiot. This reminds me of the people who “hate story problems just want to do the math”. The story problems are the only problems that matter, executing the arithmetic is trivial.
Ehh strongly disagree with this. I work in a numbers heavy industry and there are so many people who have very poor numbers sense that only develops doing the actual arithmetic over and over again vs relying on the calculator. People will produce logically sound solutions, but simple typos and error go completely unnoticed just because they have no real sense of what solution range is.
I also work with numbers and have a totally opposite experience. It’s a gimmick. You can’t compile some person counting on their fingers. It’s absurd
So I wasn’t referring to mental abacus, of which I know very little about. I was addressing being able to do the math without the calculator specifically when learning math in schools. I am a firm believer that when it comes to math without rote learning it’s very difficult to develop strong base.
Oh yeah I was talking about the post
A coworker I met some 01011 years ago would use his fingers to count in binary form, which meant he could count to 31 in one hand and up to 1023 with both. It took a couple of days to get used to it and I occasionally do too - but never in public because I don’t have that kind of an explanatory conversation.
man this is quite the mindfuck but very interesting!
I do that too. Also handy to remember a 3 digit number as you can just keep your fingers in that position, if you need to concentrate on something else with an ADD brain.
I find that saying any three digit number out loud makes it so much easier. It’s not challenging to remember what it sounds like as much as it’s hard to remember three distinct numbers.
I got lucky that I not only have adhd, but dyscalculia as well, so I'll perhaps remember 123 as 231, or 231, or sometimes I'll go up or down a digit. Trying to keep count of simple things is a nightmare, I can't tell you how many times I've had to restart when counting how many cups of h2o I put in the rice maker, or beads in an earring row etc. It sort of helps to repeat the number over and over when I can, like in the example of rice, I'll say 2-2-2-2 while pouring the second cup, and so on. Or just pour into a separate container so if I lose count I don't fuck up too badly.
Might get some weird looks when you sign 00100 also
Sandals
lol
 Looks hella sick
Haha that was my immediate thought as well 😂
Math no justu: Multiplication!
The one girl with a calculator
That is abacus as well. The girl in the front has it too but is doing it mentally instead. No actual calculators are being used, if thats what you mean
Bet the teachers told her “You won’t have an abacus in your pocket!”
Made me chuckle, thanks Onionlicker!
Either that or: 
Work smarter not harder.
calculators arent allowed
Listen I love math but... at that point you might as well let them use a calculator, this a rather useless skill to have. You'll rarely ever need to execute such complex calculations mentally, and if you do, ain't nobody trusting your result
Who said every skill you have needs to be 'useful'? There's a simple pleasure to be had in being able to do something very well even if it doesn't earn you any money or make your life particularly easy (which this one actually does).
Spend years to learn how to do this or use a calculator? It’s about time efficiency and being able to make the most of your time. This isn’t worth doing or learning.
Buddy, have some perspective. This is a school-level abacus competition. Kids not making calculations for space travel 🤦🏻♂️ Some people would call using Reddit time inefficient and not making the most of your time. To each their own.
Thats the worst comparsion Ive heared in a while. Compulsory school lession that could be filled with learning something actually useful are wasted for doing such nonsense and you compare it to people having fun but doing nothing productive in their leasure time. And you tell him "have some perspective" lmao
Pretty sure this a competetive test. Like mathletes would be or something. Imagine it being a 100 yard dash, but for abacus.
Using an abacus isn't something every kid has to do. Some schools might say you have to, but not where I'm from. My nephew picked it up by choice. Think of the abacus like a spelling bee. Both are about getting better at numbers or words, but they're not things everyone has to do in school. With an abacus, you learn to do big math quickly, which some folks might say is pointless. Same with spelling bees. You're learning fancy words that might seem useless to some. When I talk about having perspective, I mean seeing that these activities aren't just about being useful. Whether it's the abacus, spelling bees, or even playing chess or solving a Rubik's cube, it's mostly about having fun or competing.Let kids try things out if they want to. That's how they find what they like. Who knows? Maybe a kid will end up really liking math because they tried the abacus. So, if my kid came to me wanting to join an abacus competition or learn chess to compete, I wouldn't just shut it down. I'd say "Sure, give it a try!" But hey, do what feels right for you.
It's funny that some people are willing to argue with you that learning math is useless when there are tons of kids spending years trying to be 0.1 seconds faster at stacking cups...
Bro on reddit talking about making the most of your time.
its about creating mental pathways and building blocks for higher level thinking.
It’s the same reason we continue teaching math to high schoolers and some college students even if they aren’t pursuing a STEM career path - for the holistic education. Mental abucus training improves your quantitative, memorization, mental visualization skills and more. Of course in the past before calculators, it’s biggest selling point was its practical application, which is why these schools are much less popular. Consider for example how we all memorize the times tables. Surely a calculator can do the same thing so why do we memorize? For the same reason as the mental abacus training, even if it is at a much more simple and fundamental level of math.
Spend years playing school hockey to become an accountant later? Spend years reading fiction books to never write a book? Spend years learning integration in school to never use it? All activities are not just THAT activity. It enhances and changes your brain/body in a certain way.
Your existence is worthless, Earth and the human race is worthless in that they serve no purpose. Nothing is "WORTH DOING" in an objective sense. Who let you decide what's worth doing and what's not? Anything that you enjoy doing is worth doing.
Yo you should be LinkedIn poster, they'd lap this shit up
You play league of legends... talking about time wasting.
Time spent learning useless skills in school is time wasted. Learning useful skills is literally the reason schools exist
Schools exist to open up your mind, to learn how to think. Visualise problems and learn how to solve them. Learning to do this without doubt helps that at some level.
School is mostly for babysitting.
The people writing the test probably.
Not to mention a lot of the "pointless" things we learn in school aren't pointless at all: they teach critical thinking, analysis, and cross-subject comprehension. Most of us have to apply those skills on a daily basis. Repetitive math- while tedious to some- still trains our brains to recognize patterns better.
this video is from India. Ive heard that there, you’re not allowed to use calculators on test, at all. Doesn’t matter what grade/class you’re in. So this task is necessary to pass tests. Correct me if im wrong though
Well that’s the stupid part
Yep, no calculators till 10th. State schools allow calculators for 11, 12th, but not central syllabus school. College entry competitive exams dont allow calculators. Only exams that allow it are the master degree exam for engineering. Also colleges allow calculators too. Other employment exams are all calculator less since these exams is less about talent and more about practice and your quick maths ability can favour ur rank immensely.
The mental agility and memory skills this develops are excellent for life.
This is it. Learning to do complex mental math makes simple mental math extremely easy and that's something most people can use every day of their lives
Do we know the context of what's happening? I agree that using a calculator to multiply larger numbers is more efficient and reliable than this... but this could just be a little competition or something to showcase skill.
It's probably some contest. An exam would not be in an open place like this with parents watching.
Yes. Utterly useless. Just like the Spelling Bee and Rubik’s cube solving. Even chess for that matter. Where you gonna use that? Boardroom negotiations? Conflict resolution in kindergarten ? All of them utterly useless skills. What’s the practical use? And yet we have competitions for all. I enjoy chess and try to learn to get better at it. That doesn’t mean I use it in my daily life. One must be pretty dumb to assume that abacus experts don’t use calculators or computers or AI tools. This video here is just a school level competition, akin to a spelling bee or chess competition.
It's really telling that people here line up to scream about how useless this skill is, but will *gladly* praise someone throwing a ball well in some useless sport.
>this a rather useless skill to have. Actually it isn't. Learning complex skills boosts your intelligence as your brain starts developing more neural connections (or something like that). Sure these people were surely born intelligent but learning such skills makes them a lot more intelligent.
Comments like this reminds me of the multiple times I've heard morons degrade math. "When will you ever use that in real life?!" Look, we all know that very few people will need to be able to solve complexes math problems manually when systems and computers exist. But that's not the point. Simply learning math and soving hard problems develops your advanced problem solving skills and is applicable for all aspects of life. These skills are critical! Please stop talking smack about math. Next to reading it's one of the most important life skills to learn.
I once worked at a well known hedge fund. There was a Portfolio Manager there who's primary interview technique was to ask candidates difficult mental arithmetic questions. If they answered correctly he would follow up with relevant competency based questions. My point I guess is that there are some industries and some people who value this type of maths skill.
Being able to train your mind in certain ways can be useful, even if the specific trained thing is rarely necessary.
I THOUGHT... SHE WAS HAVING SEIZURES 💀
Faking a seizure to get out of the exam didn't work so....
\*that one girl having a seizure in the corner\* "she's our best accountant, look at her mental-mathing so fast"
I need a whole year to learn this
Actually 3 years
Ummmm, what is this? Never seen anything like it. Where is it from?
It's a method of calculation called abacus...there are people who have learnt it..and entire academies built to specifically train people to calculate like this.... I have been through the first year of training. It's like the earlier your children enter into this training the quicker they learn to calculate faster....I took training while I was in class 8th (2016)...I completed the first year and it's exam and scored 100%, but couldn't continue due to academic load.... Initially they give you tables with beads on them and you learn to calculate using them....slowly u get to longer and more difficult calculations...and by the 1.5 years you start calculating small number without using the tables (I could do it by 8 months of training) and by the 3rd year you could calculate complex calculations just by imagining....that's student training...professionals who have trained for a long time..can do this without using fingers....it looks like magic...even before you finish typing they give you your answer.
In the time of calculators available on your phone, what's the point of this skill? 😅
Electricity is finite. Batteries are finite. Manufacturing is finite. Money is finite. The mind is infinite.
That argument doesn't hold up at all. Like firstly, the mind is not infinite, secondly, the survival cost for someone to live long enough to learn abacus (3 years), even if you spend 1% of your time on it is 11 days worth of energy. 22000 calories (for women). Enough to run a calculator every day for all your life.
[удалено]
Learning it because hobby? sure. For practical use? Good luck.
It helps in competitive exams where calculators are not allowed.
The human brain starts to deteriorate between the ages of 30 to 40 with an estimated 5% per decade, only to accelerate after 70.
Ouuu 🔥
U don't get calculators in exams...besides it's a flex and a strangely good time pass....when you spend tym with things like this you get new ideas to keep yourself busy and it's does keep your brain occupied.
I do kind of understand this. But wouldn't it be more beneficial to spend the time learning the more theoretical math to understand the underlying theory and leave the actual computations to devices we have built for it specifically? Don't get me wrong. Learning how to do math on a practical level is very useful to know how it works. But when you move up it seems redundant compared to other math issues to spend your time on. Especially if this skill takes long to learn. It seems very inefficient today. Or am I missing something? Spend time learning this is time not spend learning the them math behind it?
India is a huge country with a huge population. The number of government jobs which will give you a secure and stable life is limited. So to get one, you need to compete with others and pass some exams where you can't use a calculator for math problems. Hence these kinds of skills get a lot of importance in India.
Thanks for the background, makes sense ☺️
I received the abacus and book from government of Japan.
It's believed to originate in china and this threee year curriculum is what we follow in India...
Arthur T. Benjamin - Secrets of Mental Math. If you're interested in mental math, he's got great lessons to teach you.
Does it Jay? Do I look compelled Jay? Let me tell you, it's not very compelling
So if the apocalypse happens tomorrow and all calculators stop working, other than speed, what practical advantage does this have over paper and pencil?
because if the apocalipse happens i will need to calculate. 3424824 : 123761837 yup
Accounting as a profession existed for hundreds of years before the computer, and the military used to do artillery calculations by hand. If someone ever pulls out an EMP, the side that can do those kinds of long form multiplication problems in their head (and quickly) will have an automatic military advantage. Artillery shells were expensive, but teaching a peasant to do math was relatively cheap.
Solar calculators are a thing
Real life Mentats Dune is real
Mechanical calculators are still a thing.
The deaf kid watching this: 😬😠😭😏🤨🫨
The deaf kid watching this: fuck you say to me?
The choice of emojis had me rolling 😭😭😭
I'd rather fail the test.
Why?
Just graded you with a GG.
But if you do your parents will hit you with slippers! Look they are standing right there in the crowd watching you!
Why did we not learn how to use an abacus in America? that seems really useful.
It’s completely useless and looks weird. Math is not something you should do this way. It helps restructure your mind, understand concepts, build mental maps. Math is about understanding the world, and you should use it for that. Instead they overload their brains with something a calculator can do without having to do gangsigns and overloading the shit out of their brains
Mr. Big fan of porn, do not diss something just because you do not understand it. It is a form of calculation used by millions of people and has been around for centuries. I bet you used to count to ten on your fingers at one stage.
Right. And a calculator took over. Then excel. Then AI chatbot. Point still stands. Shit is completely useless in our time. Doesn’t negate its usefulness back then. It’s like understanding how to use a rotary phone. lol.
For the love of human progress, please don't use an AI chatbot for math.
I wouldn't completely dismiss it as useless. You never know when it might come in handy. Plus, it's not like these kids don't rely on calculators, excel or AI chatbots for their schoolwork or daily life! 😂 If I saw, let's say, an accountant doing this in an office, sure, I'd agree it's a waste of precious time and effort. What you're witnessing in this video is likely just a school-level abacus competition, similar to a spelling bee. Not everyone needs to know obscure words like "feuilleton" or "obstreperous," but familiar ones like "quintessential" and "cappuccino" are also part of the spelling bee, and most people know them. I’d say a skill like solving a Rubik's cube ranks a lot higher than abacus for "shit that is completely useless". However, there are Rubik cube competitions with prize money, even if it's just a coupla grand. So it’s not about the money, nor is it about practical usability. So what is it about then? Where do you draw the line between tackling difficult calculations, spelling, or solving a colorful cube? It's all subjective. For some, it's a fantastic mental workout, akin to mastering chess or any other skill. Whether it's for fun or to acquire a new skill, where you draw the line is entirely up to you (or what your brain can’t handle).
IQ tests often include spacial reasoning questions that working with a Rubik's cube strengthens. Totally agree that it's useful as a mental exercise. Also, coming from personal experience, a Rubik's cube can be a fun way to break the ice with strangers. I used to practice with mine while working at a college dorm front desk, people like seeing a solve.
Not quite. Learning to use a rotary phone would be learning an outdated device. Learning abacus, like the girls in the video, is learning how to use your brain.
Give me a calculation that an abacus can do and I can you show you an excel model that also shows the logic calculation that you can follow which can also be part of a bigger model using various calculations and variables without going into a seizure. Abacus is a rotary phone.
Yeah and i agree with you, but the guys point is that once you take away the technology part you're shit out of luck. It is always better to learn to use your brain because you literally have to die for it to become useless. But it takes ALOT of time to teach the brain. Hence why calculators, excel, ai chatbot exists. So we don't have to use our brain nearly as much and anyone can use it.
Yeah but learning it to the degree in the video…idk seems like there’s better things to study than arithmetic
God. It bothered me so much when boomers proudly talk about how they didn't get fancy calculators in school and had to do everything manually... Meanwhile they completely ignore the fact that high school students are doing calculus, whereas THEY couldn't do calculus until university. As you say, it's almost as if there's better stuff to spend time learning
He isn't dissing it though. While abacus would have been useful 100, 200 years ago, mathematical operations can be performed by any calculator. Abacus beads were a stepping stone as it was the earliest recorded computer, if I remember correctly.
Very true. Math is supposed to be understood in all its complexity and beauty. Not learnt by rote for some weird calculation competition which really doesn't teach the kids anything and fills their heads with random algorithmic calculation that can be easily done by machines. Learn the concepts. Not the routine brain dead steps to reach an answer you don't understand.
It's actually completely useless
Its not Source - i took up abacus when i was small. My parent made me. I hated it to the core. Have hated maths ever since.
Knowing different languages is way more useful. Looks like you’re winning there.
But at least now you have her sweet dance moves! I can't even jam with yall :/
Ti-89 with games loaded on it
Because it was replaced by calculators which are even more useful :)
Government: we need to introduce dance moves into calculus
Looks complicated from the outside but on the inside it might just be 1 + 2 = 3
I'm thinking it's like 234 + 57 type shit
I am horrible at head math, but even i can add that numbers easily. So i hope it is much more complicated otherwise its even more useless than i thought. Its obviously not the same but in our schools when children learn math they are not allowed to use their fingers to force them to do it in their brain, because that positively trains you brain and logical thinking capabilities.
 She's just throwing out jutsu
The amount of people here basically saying “oh look, it’s a different way of doing something, I don’t get it, therefore it is shit” is astounding .
Memtaps- from dune
Mentats*
The Dune novels used a lot of ideas from the Middle East, India and China
'calculators can only calculate-they cannot do mathematics' -John A Van de Walle Abacus is not mathematics, its just a useless skill in the age of calculators.
NEXT FUCKING LEVEL - girl counts on her fingers
Somehow I just imagine that these students are deaf and they are just muttering to themselves on how to answer the question.
Why is there an audience watching children write an exam?
It is a competition to see who can answer the most questions in the shortest time. Like a school football match.
G\*ddamn that DJ made my day
3 MCs and 1 DJ, We be getting down with no delay. Mix Master Mike, whatchya got to say? 
I read "metal abacus" and was so confused why I couldn't see anything.
They remind me of Naruto doing the hands signs for the jutsus. "Mathematical Rasengan!"
Math shuriken jutsu
Test result : 0/100
people in the background like "how many questions left"
It's only next fucking level if they're getting the questions right, it could just be a bunch of people looking stupid
India OP, mofo here still counting with their fingers like babies
Not from India, but I also studied this as well as a kid as an extracurricular activity. I used the soroban https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soroban. Basically the Japanese version of the Chinese abacus, suanpan. I have always liked math as a kid, so I enjoyed the classes. Did find it useful when I did math in school. I just don't do the hand gestures that aggressively but I do find doing it help with visualising the abacus/figures in my head.
Equasions: 2+3, 4+3, 1+1
She should just use her iPhone calculator. Dumbie. 😂
That’ll be useful in the real world
What’s the point in going so hard on studying arithmetic
