3.14159265358979323846264338327…

This page is an introduction.
For the real blog click See my progress here.

I am going to memorize 10,000 digits of Pi. I started around June 7. At that time I had memorized 100 digits. By now (4th of July, 2008 ) I have done 1,300. I don’t always have time to spend on it so there are periods when I don’t do much.

Here are some dates

July 1 – 1,000
July 2 – 1,100
July 3 – 1,300

This diagram shows my progress. I will show an updated diagram in my regular reports under See my progress here where the curve is much higher.

1,300 done

 

I do this in order to test my new memorization method, and to see if I can meet the challenge. It takes about 30 minutes for me to memorize 100 digits.

This memorization technique allows me to tell what digit is found at a given position, so if you ask me what digit is on position 753 then I will be able to tell. It is an 8. The first digit in Pi (the 3) is position 0, and the first decimal (the 1) is position 1.

Yesterday was the first day when I had the idea that memorizing 100,000 digits could be possible for me. Previously that has seemed to be totally impossible. I don’t think I will ever try that though. There is a Japanese guy who allegedly memorized around 100,000 digits of Pi.

When I memorize Pi like this, I sometimes realize that it affects my memory in interesting ways. Old memories can come back for example.

Published on July 4, 2008 at 10:18 pm Comments (13)

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13 Comments Leave a comment.

  1. On July 9, 2008 at 1:27 pm Paul, Fort Wayne, IN Said:

    I won’t even ask why. Good luck! If you could do it by Pi Day next year, that would be awesome.

    Reply
  2. On July 9, 2008 at 1:32 pm Magnus Said:

    Thanks! :)

    Reply
  3. On July 10, 2008 at 4:04 am Elizabeth Herndon Said:

    Good luck! And be sure to treat yourself to a nice dinner at the House of Pies (you’ll like their logo) every 1,000 digits or so, Magnus.

    Reply
  4. On July 10, 2008 at 10:06 am Magnus Said:

    Thank you, yes, their logo is nice :)

    Reply
  5. On July 10, 2008 at 9:36 pm tetecarre Said:

    I must also wish you good luck! Good concept. It’s neat that old memories pop out..

    Reply
  6. On July 10, 2008 at 9:43 pm Magnus Said:

    Yeah, subtle things happens. It is quite interesting. And thanks!

    Reply
  7. On July 13, 2008 at 2:59 pm PlagueRat Said:

    Good Luck, and if you fail the first two times, remember that the 3.14159…’th time is the charm !!!

    Reply
  8. On July 13, 2008 at 6:06 pm Magnus Said:

    Absolutely!

    Reply
  9. On July 18, 2008 at 12:38 am toomai Said:

    I wish you the best of luck. Do you hope to make any TV appearances once you have completed the task?

    Reply
  10. On July 18, 2008 at 10:53 am Magnus Said:

    Thanks! I like to show that this is not something you need to be a savant to do. I am convinced that anyone of average intelligence could easily memorize 1,000 digits like this. 10,000 too, but that requires patience. Then whether this kind of memorizing ability is interesting or not and whether it has any practical value is of course a different question, but as a basic research I think it is intriguing.

    Reply
  11. On May 3, 2009 at 4:12 am frankmurray@charter.net Said:

    good luck- i want 2 memorized the first 500 numbers of pi

    Reply
  12. On January 19, 2010 at 7:10 pm Ada Said:

    How’s your progress? Getting to a thousand is a major milestone. Hope it’s going well. I’d like to invite you to register your score on http://www.cow-pi.com. In fact, at a 1000 digits you’d place first in North America, and really high in our world rankings as well.

    Moo,

    Ada

    Reply
  13. On January 19, 2010 at 7:23 pm Magnus Said:

    Hi Ada, thanks for your encouragement and invitation to your site. I reached 3,800 digits more than a year ago, but then I got so much to do that I had to make a pause

    I am still having very much going on here, so the pause continues, but I am planning to take it up again one day, and continue towards 10,000 digits.

    Magnus

    Reply

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