Does our brain calculate math or does it remember math?
351223
http://members.cox.net/mathmistakes/what_is_mathematics3.htm\n\n\nAfter an introductory chapter, Devlin has two chapters devoted to what psychologists know about how our brain does math. It follows that old genetics vs. environment argument; some of our math ability comes naturally, though the majority is learned.\n\nChapter 2 is devoted to fairly new ideas about our natural ability to do basic math such as counting. It seems from birth we have the ability to understand the difference between one, two, three, and many. Psychologists have confirmed this through rather clever testing of infants as young as four weeks old. \n\nFor example, one test involved showing babies a series of puppets going behind a curtain. The testers show the babies a couple of puppets going one at a time behind a curtain. The curtain is then lifted. If there are one or three puppets revealed behind the curtain, the babies will stare longer at the puppets than if there are only two puppets, which is what the baby expects. Babies stare longer at things that do not make sense to them, so when they see two puppets  go behind a curtain, they expect two puppets when the curtain is dropped.\n\nA basic inherent "number sense" is not just a human trait, it has been confirmed in mammals and birds as well. There is an old story about a bird that was nesting in a tower, and the owners of the tower wanted to get rid of it. When they sent someone into the tower to capture the bird, the bird would leave to a nearby tree and would not return to the tower until the man left. So they came up with a clever plan of sending two men into the tower, then soon after one man left, but the bird stayed in the tree and would not return to the tower until it saw both men leave: it saw two men enter, and it waited until both men were gone. They tried again with three, same thing. They tried with four, same thing. Finally, it got confused with five men entering the tower and four men leaving, the fifth man was able to capture the bird.\n\nI can attest to the fact that this number sense also exists in cats. I have a cat, and sometimes I give her some kitty treats just before I leave (this distracts her so I can go out without her darting outside). If I toss three treats on the floor with my cat watching, she will systematically go after all three treats. If I toss five, she will get three easily, then she has to sniff around and search for the others; she knows there are more than three. If she finds one, she may stop looking, because she lost track of how many I threw. \n\nSo the number sense is a naturally occurring ability of knowing one, two, three, and many. It is an instinct developed for survival. Many primitive human languages actually only have words for one, two, three, and many. Remnants of this can be found in English, like the ordinal numbers first, second, and third. Later ordinals fourth through twentieth all have identical endings, which makes the first three ordinals unique.
1162368
Americans say "Math" while Britons say "Maths"
127244
The brain doesn't store information on ordered cards like a library catalogue.  It has an area where the idea of the noun is encoded, with connections to things relating to that noun; an area where the idea of an adjective is encoded, with connections to the areas that relate to the ideas behind that adjective (such as regions in the visual cortex or auditory cortex etc. that relate to the sensory information that forms the basis of the adjective); and connections between the two areas that facilitates the use of a given adjective for a given noun, mediated by connections that control grammatcal structures in language.
553518
I think it is a right brain, left brain thing.  Most artistic people I know are HORRIBLE at math, yet those who are good at math/science are HORRIBLE at anything creative.\n\nThere are exceptions, because I do believe there are gifted people who use BOTH.  Like architects for example, they create gorgeous buildings but they definitely need to have a math capable mind to work out the measurments, geometry of the building.
741072
Do you know how to represent precisely the state of a brain at any given time? If so, then yes.  I think you'll find this is a hard problem to solve, though.
1125241
because science is all about calculation
663028
When you're thinking you're talking to yourself in your head. So obviously its your own voice you hear. If you were thinking of a particular incident(e.g. a date), you recall the visions, sights, smells, sounds and voices. You remember exactly as you stored that information in your brain right?
932070
Numeracy is to mathematics as literacy is to reading.
305407
Yes! Big difference. Arithmetic has to do with simple operations of only numbers involving +, -, /, and x. (adding, subtracting, dividing, and multiplying). Mathematics encompasses EVERY kind of math, from arithmetic to calculus to linear algebra to the stuff they used for the physics to build the atomic bomb.
574672
I have a memory learning disability that really impacts my math hard. I have working memory problems. \n\nTherefore, I work out everything on paper, with calulators, and have tons of sticky notes everywhere reminding me of stuff. I also keep two different, coordinated planners for "to do."\n\nSince I can't use memory in my head unless it is long-term, and it is not practical to memorize everything into long-term memory, I live off paper. Paper is my short-term/working memory.
426043
Yes, it is. We live with math every day. Even a person who barely finshed high school and struggling to make ends meet will use math everyday.\nExamples: Anything and everything to do with money. Paying bills, buying stuff, arranging mortgage etc.,\nCooking: You use ratios, propertions, fractions percentages, to figure out recipes when you are doubling them, halving them etc.\nIf you are decorating your house or working on your garden - you use a lot of geometry, like measuring out the floor space etc.\nDressmaking - You figure out the amount of material you would require - form of geometry my dear.\nThe list could just go on.\nIf you are on medication - the dosage is generally decided on --grams/kg body weight.\nOrganising your day - planning schedules, alarms, time management etc.\nand the list would go on.
1137735
use  brain\nif not  calculator
761779
It isn't true that we only use 10% our brains.  That is a very common myth that was started because of misinterpretation of scientific data.  The fact is that only 10% of our brains is made of up actual neurons that transmit signals, while the rest are glial cells that provide structural support and nutrition to the neurons and clear waste products and excess neurotransmitters.   However, these cells are all used most of the time.\nTo answer your actual question though, the brain is sort of designed to forget things for two reasons.  There is so much going on around us that we experience, if we paid attention to and remembered everything we would be overloaded by all this information pretty quickly.  Secondly, new connections need to be made all the time to incorporate new things that we learn, so in the midst of that some other connections are weakened or lost.  Sometimes things we mean to remember are lost in this process.  Of course, our brain doesn't always work how we would like it to, but like you said generally the things that are most important are the things that we remember, which is exactly how it should be.  Why store unnecessary information?
1088739
The answer is 4100.  After adding the first 7 terms, you get a sum of  4090, then, adding another ten, your brain just automatically jumps to 5000.  Of course, if you added it on paper you would see that the answer is 4100, but doing mental math, your brain see differently.  \n\nI saw this in a logic book once, and another Yahoo Answers \n\nquestion.
392335
compute is logical, calculate is arithmetic.
447068
I'm a neurosurgeon. I don't think anyone will be able to give a satisfactory answer to that question, in large part because we don't have any meaningful units of measurement. \n\nWe can't use "bytes" like in a computer. We can't determine how many "facts" someone knows. We might be able to work out reaction speeds etc. but we can't really pin down how many other things you are thinking of at the time and how that might influence it; we can't sort out how many people you know or what your total vocabulary is really; or how many slightly different scents you can recognize.\n\nMost of the time, we are unaware of the thousands of pieces of information we are constantly processing unconsciously, like air temperature, sounds around us, colour of text on screen, clock ticking, feel of socks on our feet, hair on our neck. We may notice out of the corner of our eye that our co-worker has gotten up; her unhurried walk and the smell of cappucino indicate that it's coffee break rather than an emergency evacuation, and our brain doesn't even consciously notify us of making the decision to stay at our desk.\n\nThe brain can process massive amounts of information very quickly - you are actually doing complicated calculus every time you catch a flying ball! - but we don't have a good way to quantify it.
483592
You use math everyday