From: Mermaid . (britannica@hotmail.com)
Date: Fri Jan 18 2002 - 10:51:55 MST
<Hermit quoted>
To some extent, they serve as memory aids to the practitioners. Other than
that, their sole role has been as props to the false pretense of antiquity.
The main positive contribution of Tirthaji's book lies in highlighting some
tricks with which certain specific calculations can be done faster. In this
sense, it is comparable to Trachtenberg's methods of `high speed'
computation.
[Mermaid]I have been braying about this all through this 'discussion'.
Mnemonic-fucking-aids!! Fast-computation!! I suppose it doesnt matter much
in a society where there are wallet sized instruction cards to calculate 15%
tips at restaurants.
REALITY: http://911audio.com/audio_files/math.html
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