Friends & Family Webinar: How to Become a Human Calculator with Scott Flansburg

This transcript features a webinar with Scott Flansburg, “The Human Calculator,” focusing on making mathematics accessible and enjoyable. Flansburg, a Guinness World Record holder for mental calculation, shares his unique methods, emphasizing discovery over rote memorization. Key techniques include left-to-right addition, an intuitive multiplication by eleven trick, and the “nine pattern” for verifying calculations, which he believes is a missing foundational concept in arithmetic education. He also discusses his advocacy for a 13-month, 28-day calendar for its mathematical simplicity and efficiency, and introduces the “Counting Bee” as an alternative to traditional math competitions, all with the purpose of fostering a positive relationship with numbers and enhancing self-esteem in students.

–

Hello, my name is Kevin Hickey, and I’m the CEO of Prevalent. With schools and offices shut down and most of us working from home, the Prevalent team wanted to offer a fun break with a special online presentation featuring Scott Flansburg, “the human calculator”. Scott has been a good friend for over 30 years and has appeared on shows like The Oprah Winfrey Show, Ellen, and The Today Show. He’s the Guinness World Record holder for the fastest human calculator and the founder of the Counting Bee. We’ve taken every healthcare precaution for this webinar, with cameras operated remotely, social distancing, and only three people in the office. We promise we’re taking every precaution. I’m going to turn it over to Scott now, and we hope you find this enjoyable. We’re also recording this session, and it will be on our website for future reference.

Thank you, Kevin, and thanks to the Prevalent team for having me today. I’m very excited about this opportunity because we’re all in a unique situation, and I want to make it as fun as I can. We’ll cover things that will help everyone.

To get started, I need Kevin to help me warm up my brain with some number calculations. I’m going to try to do them in my head while Kevin uses a calculator using an app called Digits. I’m a mathlete, so I have to stretch out a little bit.

• Addition: We’ll start with addition of a bunch of two-digit numbers, like 56 plus 73. I got 394 for that one. I learned how to do this by accident when I was in third grade.
• Multiplication: Next, let’s do some multiplication. Give me two two-digit numbers, and I’ll multiply them in my head. For example, 99 times 82 is 8277. I’m still warming up.
• Division: Now for division, give me a three-digit number divided by a one-digit number. For 927 divided by 7, that’s 132.4285714285… and it just keeps going forever.

Now I’m warmed up.

I discovered I could do something else when I was in about eighth grade, just for fun. On a calculator, if you punch in 12 plus 12 and hit equals, it says 24. But if you hit equals again, it adds 12 more, and if you keep hitting equals, it will count by that number. My friend Andy did this in math class, and when he accidentally hit equals again, it sparked something in my brain.

Now, I’ve had this Guinness World Record for over 20 years as the fastest human calculator. The Guinness people gave me 15 seconds to race the fastest accountant in the world using a 10-key calculator. The judge chose the number 38. The accountant had to do 38 plus 38 repeatedly, as fast as possible for 15 seconds, racing me counting by 38 out loud. At the end of 15 seconds, he had 28 answers, and I had 36, meaning I beat the machine by 8 answers.

Let’s try this. Kevin, punch in a tough two-digit number, hit plus, then the same number again, and hit equals. I’ll start counting by that number, and you just keep up with me. For example, counting by 87, I can go 87, 174, 261, 348, 435, 522, 609, 696, 783, 870, 957, 1044, 1131, 1218, 1305, 1392, 1479, 1566, 1653, 1740, 1827, 1914, 2001, and so on. My mouth actually slows me down; my brain goes so fast the numbers just fly. For Guinness, I set the record with 36 answers in 15 seconds, which has stood for about 20 years. They even thought I was cheating, thinking I’d memorized the answers, which I said would be even more amazing.

Instead of starting at zero, we can start at a random number. Kevin, punch in a random two or three-digit number, say 249, then hit plus. Now, pick a two-digit number to count by, say 78. Oh, 78 is too easy if you combine it with 249. Let’s restart. If the starting number is 249, and we count by 78, I can go 327, 405, 483, 561, 639, 717, 795, 873, 951, 1029, and so on, maintaining the same speed. I’m really tuned into numbers.

I even hosted the Olympics for mental math, called Memory A for Mental Math World Records, in Las Vegas in November 2016. A girl challenged my record, wanting to use a three-digit number. So, Kevin, pick a three-digit number, punch it in, hit plus, then the same number again, and hit equals. I’ll count by that number. For 498, I can go 498, 996, 1245, 1494, 1743, 1992, 2241, 2490, 2739, 2988, 3237, and so on. As soon as I ask my brain the question, the numbers just fly.

Now, I want to show you how to see numbers and make it easier for you in everyday life, starting back when I was in third grade. My teacher wrote a problem on the board. We had learned single-digit addition and were learning carrying with two-digit numbers. She showed everyone to start at the right, add 7 and 2 to get 9, add 1 to get 10, 3 more to get 13, write down the 3, carry the 1, then add the tens column to get 53.

The problem was, I wasn’t paying attention; I was talking about baseball with my best friend. My teacher caught me and picked me to come to the board. Out of fear or survival, my brain decided to do math left to right, like reading.

Here’s how I did it:

• I kept a running total going down the columns. For example, with numbers that have 10s in the tens column: 10 plus 10 is 20, plus 10 more is 30, 10 more is 40. This helps with estimation.
• Then, you continue with the ones column: 40 plus 7 is 47, plus 2 is 49, plus 1 is 50, plus 3 is 53.
• I wrote down 53 without a carry. My teacher said I was right but asked about the carry.

Let’s try another one. Starting on the left, this method teaches estimation, number sense, and place value. For example, with numbers where the tens column adds up to 20, 20, 20, 10: 20 plus 20 is 40, 20 more is 60, 10 more is 70. So, the estimation is 70 something or higher. Then, 70 plus 6 is 76, plus 3 is 79, plus 1 is 80, plus 8 is 88. This is as simple as it gets.

Try this one: 30, 50, 60, 70 in the tens column. Then, 70 plus 7 is 77, plus 2 is 79, plus 1 is 80, plus 5 is 85. The answer is 85. I discovered this by accident in third grade, and it made me question everything I learned.

In fifth grade, I was lucky to have a teacher named Mr. Potter. He told me if I figured something out and could prove it algebraically, he’d let me teach it to the class.

It’s funny when you get into memorization; everyone memorizes up to 10 times 10, maybe 12 times 12, but that’s usually it. If you ask someone 13 times 14, nobody has the answer. We quit at 10, but to me, I couldn’t believe we were stopping at 10 because 11 seemed like an amazing number.

When you multiply numbers by 11, there’s a simple pattern. Instead of the normal way of multiplying (like 24 x 11, where you do 4×1, 2×1, then add 0 and do 4×1, 2×1, then sum them up for 264), watch how easy this is.

Anytime you multiply a number by 11:

• Drop the back number (the ones digit) at the end.
• Drop the front number (the tens digit) at the beginning.
• Add these two numbers together and put the sum in the middle.

For example, 24 times 11: drop 4, drop 2, and 2 plus 4 is 6, so the answer is 264.

Let’s try another: 35 times 11. Drop the 5, drop the 3, and 3 plus 5 is 8, so the answer is 385. You should be able to do this in your head. For 33 times 11: you’ll have a 3 at the beginning, a 3 at the end, and 3 plus 3 is 6 in the middle, so 363. This works all the time, even for three-digit or four-digit numbers (though there’s a carrying process there).

Instead of just making kids memorize how it works, I try to teach people how to discover numbers, not memorize numbers. My biggest concern is that it seems to have become socially accepted to be bad at math. We all carry a calculator in our pocket now.

When you speak English, you use the alphabet. As the human calculator, I speak the language of numbers, using the alphabet of numbers, which are these ten digits: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. There’s no 10 on a calculator. We’ve all been brought up to count 1 through 10 because we have 10 fingers. But if you want to think like a calculator, you have to count 0, because a calculator always starts at 0.

So, numbers really work like this: we have 10 fingers, and there are 10 digits, from 0 through 9. When you start thinking about numbers 0 through 9, everything changes; it makes numbers so much easier, and all these patterns jump out of the bigger numbers. The 0 is the power number when it comes to a calculator.

I wondered how numbers got their shapes. While there are historical evolutions, one cool way to help kids connect with numbers is to see that the shapes might have been made to communicate their value by counting corners.

• Zero (0): Started as a circle because it has zero corners.
• One (1): Had a little thing that gave it one angle.
• Two (2): Looked like a letter and has two corners/angles.
• Three (3): Had a shape that gave it three angles.
• Four (4): Looked a bit different, like a box with a line through it, giving it four angles.
• Five (5): Looked similar to four but with a tail, giving it five angles.
• Six (6): Was boxed up, giving it six corners/angles.
• Seven (7): A smarter design than how we lazily draw it, giving it seven angles.
• Eight (8): Used an hourglass symbol, giving it eight angles (including outside angles).
• Nine (9): Called the “ugly duckling,” its shape gives it nine angles.

So, it’s really 0 through 9, and now you know why numbers look like they do. Remember, 10 is not a digit; 10 is a number that uses a 1 and a 0.

The secret to numbers is that everything goes back to 9. A lot of you have just memorized your math facts. For example, 7 plus 7 is 14. You get that answer quickly because you memorized it. This isn’t a good way to start.

I believe there’s a missing chapter in arithmetic, which I call Chapter Zero. If students learned this first, it would make arithmetic easier for everyone and help them move on to higher math, science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM).

• Combinations to Make 9: If you’re not good at adding, just write your digits 0 through 4, then continue underneath with 5 through 9. You’ll see that 0 plus 9 is 9, 1 plus 8 is 9, 2 plus 7 is 9, 3 plus 6 is 9, and 4 plus 5 is 9. These are all the combinations to make 9. I quiz students by saying one digit and having them say the other number that adds up to 9. This is a very simple way to know your addition facts for the number 9.
• The “9 Pattern” (Number Minus Sum of Digits): For 30 years, as the human calculator, I focused on what I could do, but I didn’t share much. Then, on 9/9/99, I was talking with Alice Cooper, and he noticed that 18 (from his song “18”) adds up to 9 (1+8=9). I told him that any number times 9, the answer adds up to 9. For example, 3 times 9 is 27 (2+7=9), 6 times 9 is 54 (5+4=9), and 16 times 9 is 144 (1+4+4=9).Later, I was looking at the number 13 on my calendar. I thought, “Hey, 1 plus 3 is 4, and 13 minus 4 is 9!”. Then I saw 11 on my microwave: “1 plus 1 is 2, and 11 minus 2 is 9!”. I was shocked, thinking I’d missed this simple concept in fourth grade.Here’s how this “9 pattern” works:
  1. Add up all the digits in a number.
  2. Subtract that total from the original number.
  3. The answer’s digits will always add up to 9.

  Let’s try it:

  • 10: 1 plus 0 is 1. 10 minus 1 is 9.
  • 15: 1 plus 5 is 6. 15 minus 6 is 9.
  • 19: 1 plus 9 is 10. 19 minus 10 is 9.
  • 20: 2 plus 0 is 2. 20 minus 2 is 18. Look at 18: 1 plus 8 is 9.
  • 55 (like a speed limit sign): 5 plus 5 is 10. 55 minus 10 is 45. Look at 45: 4 plus 5 is 9.
  • Your age (e.g., 37): 3 plus 7 is 10. 37 minus 10 is 27. Look at 27: 2 plus 7 is 9.
  • This works for any number in the universe – two-digit, three-digit, four-digit, to infinity. For 123: 1 plus 2 plus 3 is 6. 123 minus 6 is 117. Look at 117: 1 plus 1 plus 7 is 9.

  I don’t know why we’re not teaching this in schools. I believe this is a simple exercise that will train all our brains for basic number facts instead of memorizing numbers. It also serves as a diagnostic tool for parents and teachers. If a child can’t do these steps (add digits, subtract, add result’s digits), it shows gaps in their knowledge. If every nine-year-old on the planet could do this, every number they see would feel like a friend, going back to their age (9). By ten, they’d be fluent in the language of numbers and basic arithmetic, ready for higher math like algebra. Many kids struggle because they only memorize facts, which doesn’t give them a good foundation. My mission is to reach every student before they’re nine years old and share this.

One day, I was bored and created a number grid. It’s zero through nine, written over and over again, both horizontally and vertically. This creates a grid from double zero to 99. I saw all these patterns.

I’ve created a coloring book based on this grid, with ten chapters. The first chapter, Chapter Zero, asks you to assign a color for each digit 0 through 9. You color all the zeros, then all the ones, and so on. You’ll start to see patterns, like a plus sign or a cross revealed by each number at its double digit (like 22 for all the twos). Then you color them all together on one page.

A later chapter teaches all your addition facts. Instead of memorizing, you find numbers on the grid whose two digits add up to a specific sum.

• For example, numbers whose digits add up to 0: only 00.
• Numbers whose digits add up to 1: 01 and 10.
• Numbers whose digits add up to 2: 02, 11, and 20.
• This goes all the way to numbers whose digits add up to 18 (like 99).

This coloring book and my 9 pattern are what I’m trying to share to create a numerate person. It will revolutionize the relationship children have with numbers and their confidence.

My foundation is called I Count Foundation. I want kids to learn how to count like me, 0 through 9. I believe helping children overcome their fear of numbers increases their self-esteem, which is why it’s called “I Count”.

We host the National Counting Bee. You might know about the National Spelling Bee, but a Counting Bee is a bit different. Here’s how it works:

• Round 1: Everybody counts by 3 for 15 seconds, and that’s their score.
• Then, you count by 4, 5, 6, going as high as you can in 15 seconds for each round, and add up your score.
• The unique thing is that nobody starts at zero. For example, you might have to start at 7 and count by 3 (10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, etc.).
• Kids can go really fast; in the Arizona Counting Bee, students got over 30 answers in 15 seconds.

We’ll have categories for students of all ages, teachers (looking for the fastest number-crunching teacher), and parents (who knows, it could be a grandma from a farm!). At one school, a janitor actually won the Counting Bee, beating teachers and students. Numbers aren’t scary; they’re an amazing language that the whole world is wired in. If you shut yourself off from it, you’re missing a lot. I truly believe we can make a big difference and change our future if more kids enjoy science and math.

Because I’m in the world of numbers, I see things differently. I invented a 13-month calendar called “The Human Calculator Calendar”, which you can download for free at my website, thehumancalculator.com. It has a zero month, then months 1 through 12, lined up like a clock.

Our current Roman calendar has been around for 2,000 years. It has 365 days, 12 months, and the days in each month vary (28, 29, 30, 31). Nobody knows the pattern, and it’s tough to calculate dates. The names are confusing too:

• January is a two-headed Norse god.
• July is named after Julius Caesar, August after Augustus Caesar.
• September means seven but is our ninth month.
• October means eight but is our tenth month.
• November means nine but is our eleventh month.
• December means ten but is our twelfth month.

This calendar really shuts our brain down from understanding time.

As a human calendar, I can tell you what day of the week any date was. There’s an algorithm for it. I found an old book in a library that had a pattern. The formula is: (Year + Year divided by 4 + Date + Month value) divided by 7. The remainder tells you the day of the week (0 for Sunday, 1 for Monday, etc.). For example, for June 22, 1958:

• Year (58) + Year/4 (14) + Date (22) + Month value for June (4) = 98.
• 98 divided by 7 is 14 with a remainder of 0.
• A remainder of 0 means it was a Sunday. I can calculate any date in history in less than a second. For example, December 2, 1995 was a Saturday.

My new calendar makes much more mathematical sense.

• It has 13 months, with 28 days every month.
• This totals 364 days. The missing day is the zero day, so months are numbered 0 through 12. January 1st becomes zero zero.
• Every month would be the exact same, making paychecks, school schedules, and everything easier.
• From a financial perspective, every quarter would begin and end on the same day, with exactly 91 days. Our current calendar has varying quarter lengths (90, 91, 92 days). This levels the playing field. You can download this calendar for free.

I also put out a one-page calendar last year for 2019. A normal calendar has 12 pages, but this one fits all 365 or 366 days on one page. You find your birth month at the top, your birthday number on the left, and where they intersect tells you the day of the week. For example, Christmas 2019 (December 25th) was a Wednesday. It’s more of a novelty, but I can create it for any year.

Let me share a couple more things.

• Complementary Multiplication: For large two-digit numbers, like 96 times 93.
  1. Write how far each number is from 100: 96 is 4 away, 93 is 7 away.
  2. Subtract diagonally: 93 minus 4, or 96 minus 7, both give 89. This is the first two digits of the answer.
  3. Multiply the two numbers on the right: 4 times 7 is 28.
  4. The answer is 8928. I’ve discovered six more efficient ways to multiply numbers than what we were taught. My mission is to show kids that numbers and arithmetic can be creative and fun, focusing on discovering patterns rather than memorizing.
• Making Change Using 9: Many people struggle with making change. If you have a dollar and spend 67 cents, what’s the change? Instead of the traditional borrowing method, there’s an easier way using the number 9.
  1. From 100 pennies (a dollar), take one penny and put it in your pocket. Now you have 99 cents.
  2. To figure out change, you just have to make everything add up to 9. For 67 cents:
     • Under the 6, put a 3 (6+3=9).
     • Under the 7, put a 2 (7+2=9).
     • This gives you 32 cents.
  3. Add the magic penny back. So, the change is 33 cents. For 46 cents: under 4 put 5, under 6 put 3. That’s 53. Add the penny, so 54 cents. For a $6.28 meal with a $10 bill: take a penny away, you have $9.99.
  • Under 6, put 3.
  • Under 2, put 7.
  • Under 8, put 1.
  • That’s 371. Add the penny, so $3.72. This is a very simple way to make change.

You might be wondering, “What’s the big deal about the number 9? Who cares if every number goes back to 9? That’s just a cute trick”. But that is not the case. There’s a very powerful reason for this pattern.

When you’re asked 1 plus 1, you say 2. You either memorized it or counted objects. There’s no other strategy to check if you’re right. The reason the 9 pattern is a big deal is this:

• The number 11 is designed to teach us 1 plus 1. You know it’s 2, but now you can logically check it. Plug it in: 11 minus 2 is 9. If you get 9, everything is fine.
• If you make a mistake, say a child thinks 1 plus 1 is 3. Plug it in: 11 minus 3 is 8. It’s not 9, so that’s the wrong answer. The only answer that will work to make it go to 9 is the correct one.

This is how powerful this is. Let’s do 2 plus 2. You’ve memorized it’s 4. Now you can check it logically. Start with 22. Plug in 4: 22 minus 4 is 18. Does your answer (18) add up to 9 (1+8=9)? Yes. Then everything is fine.

This simple exercise will totally give students or yourself a chance to tune into numbers in a way you never have. I ask everyone who learns this to pick one person worse at math than them and share it. You’ll see what a difference it makes.

If you’re interested in the National Counting Bee, visit thecountingbee.com to register for free and put in your scores. We’ll invite the fastest kids from across America. I want to thank Kevin Hickey and the team at Prevalent for having me today. This is a weird time, and I wanted to help. If teachers and parents spent the next few weeks making sure every kid knew how everything goes back to 9, when we go back to school, teachers will be surprised how kids can do adding, subtracting, and numbers in their head. We’ll take off with STEAM.

Did you notice that Prevalent has nine letters in its name? I don’t believe in coincidences. We’re all here today for a purpose. Please share this message. If you’d like me to visit your school, do a corporate event, or teacher training, go to my website, thehumancalculator.com. Thank you all for tuning in. Stay safe, God bless you all.

Back to Media