February 2006
Intermediate to advanced
332 pages
9h 3m
English
Content preview from Mind Performance HacksBecome an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
O’Reilly covers everything we've got, with content to help us build a world-class technology community, upgrade the capabilities and competencies of our teams, and improve overall team performance as well as their engagement.I wanted to learn C and C++, but it didn't click for me until I picked up an O'Reilly book. When I went on the O’Reilly platform, I was astonished to find all the books there, plus live events and sandboxes so you could play around with the technology.I’ve been on the O’Reilly platform for more than eight years. I use a couple of learning platforms, but I'm on O'Reilly more than anybody else. When you're there, you start learning. I'm never disappointed.I'm always learning. So when I got on to O'Reilly, I was like a kid in a candy store. There are playlists. There are answers. There's on-demand training. It's worth its weight in gold, in terms of what it allows me to do.
Chapter 4. Math
Numeracy (the ability to use numbers) is as important as literacy. And while people vary in mathematical aptitude, almost everyone can improve their math skills, because numbers are happy to repay the effort of making their acquaintance.
Because so many people in our culture have trouble with math, improving your math skills will not only help you directly, but can also help you look good and give you an edge at work or school. In keeping with the "mental arts" approach outlined in the Preface, most of the hacks in this chapter involve mental math: math you can do in your head.
Hack #35. Put Down That Calculator
You don't need a calculator to do simple math! Learn a few tricks, and with a little practice, you'll be surprised how much arithmetic you can do in your head.
Most people need a calculator to do even simple arithmetic. There's nothing wrong with that, but if a calculator isn't available, it can become a problem. And even if you don't count the time to find the calculator, mental arithmetic can actually be faster than a calculator, too.
In Action
Entire books have been written on mental arithmetic, so we're not going to cover everything in this hack. This hack covers some typical techniques useful in their own right, and some of the other hacks in this chapter are also useful in doing mental mathematics. If you find this hack interesting and useful, you can check out one of the many books on the subject, some of which are listed at the end of this hack.
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O’Reilly covers everything we've got, with content to help us build a world-class technology community, upgrade the capabilities and competencies of our teams, and improve overall team performance as well as their engagement.Julian F.
I wanted to learn C and C++, but it didn't click for me until I picked up an O'Reilly book. When I went on the O’Reilly platform, I was astonished to find all the books there, plus live events and sandboxes so you could play around with the technology.Addison B.
I’ve been on the O’Reilly platform for more than eight years. I use a couple of learning platforms, but I'm on O'Reilly more than anybody else. When you're there, you start learning. I'm never disappointed.Amir M.
I'm always learning. So when I got on to O'Reilly, I was like a kid in a candy store. There are playlists. There are answers. There's on-demand training. It's worth its weight in gold, in terms of what it allows me to do.