# Digits of Pi - A challenge

1. Oct 4, 2009

### Vincit

Pi. An infinite number. INFINITE. People have been memorizing the digits of pi to a certain number of decimal places. A challenge for you: how many can YOU remember?

I hold the world age record(i actually don't, because i haven't told anyone except my friends about it) for memorizing 1500 digits. I did that about a year ago(when i was 13) and i've forgotten about 100 of those numbers. The numbers are literally stuck in my head. It's a great way to increase your memory and keep it at work.

Good Luck~

2. Oct 4, 2009

### protonchain

The fact that I live near the beach (San Diego), the fact that it's sunny outside, and the fact that I feel I have some semblance of a life (socially and otherwise), prevents me from doing this.

3. Oct 4, 2009

### Vincit

I am socially active. But this is easier than you think, and it's just an exercise for my spare time. So acquiesce to this, and don't give your opinion. I'm not asking for it.

4. Oct 4, 2009

### jgens

Why bother memorizing $\pi$ to thousands of decimal places? You'll rarely need more than 2 or 3 decimal places for everyday calculations.

5. Oct 4, 2009

### Cyrus

3.14159..............is about all I care to know.

6. Oct 4, 2009

### Vincit

It can train your memory and improve it by a great deal.

7. Oct 4, 2009

### jgens

Sure, assuming that it actually does improve your memory, why not improve your memory by memorizing something that you'll actually use?

8. Oct 4, 2009

### Helios

I think Chuck Norris holds the record.

9. Oct 4, 2009

### Jimmy Snyder

I can only remember the first digit, 2.

10. Oct 4, 2009

### Office_Shredder

Staff Emeritus
This is a spurious claim, as either you can only include people who have been tested for the record, or you have to include everyone in the world. If you include everyone in the world, you have no evidence that you knew more digits than anyone else at the age of 13

11. Oct 5, 2009

### redargon

22/7

12. Oct 5, 2009

### BobG

If you're European or American, why would you want to memorize any digits of pi. Your slide rules have a special mark (at around 3.14, actually), so there's no reason to memorize pi at all.

I think memorizing pi is mostly an Asian thing, since slide rules designed for Asian markets seldom included a special mark for pi (except, ironically, at the end of the folded scales which enable one to multiply by pi simply by changing from one scale to another without any need to reference the actual value at all).

Maybe memorizing pi was a holdover from using an abacus, which obviously had no easy way to incorporate constants into the design.

And, of course, nowadays pi is just a button on a calculator.

One should still know at least the first 3 digits of pi. Beyond 3 digits, one would probably gain more value by memorizing the value of many constants to a few digits than one constant to many digits (Avagadro's number, e, electron charge, Boltzman constant and/or ideal gas constant, speed of light, permeability and permittivity of free space, Planck's constant, Angelina Jolie's phone number, etc)

13. Oct 5, 2009

### physics girl phd

I'll have to check out my slide rule. I don't think it has this... but it's a mini-circular model.

:rofl:

I personally am really thinking more about eating pie these days rather than anything to do with pi. Guess maternity leave will do that to ya.

14. Oct 5, 2009

### Vincit

I'm just including people that have been tested and are in the Pi World Ranking List.
www.pi-world-ranking-list.com
If i was tested for it, i would be the world age record holder. Who knows... maybe i will.

15. Oct 5, 2009

### Insanity

Actually, the Guinness World Record recognized for remembered digits is 67,890. But Guinness does not keep by age records.

From Wikipedia

Last edited by a moderator: May 4, 2017
16. Oct 5, 2009

### Vincit

There are not world age rankings on that site in plain sight. But if you actually checked, the highest record for anyone under 15 is 930. WR from GB. I'm 14.

17. Oct 5, 2009

### protonchain

I'll be honest. In 8th grade, for extra credit in my math class and to get me from a B+ to an A-, I memorized my teachers wall of Pi, which was upto the 75th digit.

Now, 10 years later, I can't remember when my work meetings and my other appointments are, but I can still remember pi.

I don't think it improves memory as much as it supplants important other memories with its inane and useless self.