[barmar]

I just know them by heart now, but when I was younger I used the knuckle trick until they became ingrained in my memory. I'm pretty sure I learned it from a book (I read lots of math puzzle and trick books when I was a kid). I can even picture the diagram in my mind.

[nickf]

but I tell you what is really scary - is the people who can tell you what day of the week Jun 15, 1702 was, for example.

I've read of savants doing this.

nickf
sydney

[EricK]

nickf, on Jun 22 2008, 03:53 AM, said:

but I tell you what is really scary - is the people who can tell you what day of the week Jun 15, 1702 was, for example.

I've read of savants doing this.

nickf
sydney

Can they tell you the answer for every country? June 15 1702 was during the period when various countries were switching from the Julian to the Gregorain calendar.

For instance, Shakespeare and Cervantes both died on April 23 1616. But Cervantes died ten days before Shakespeare because Spain was using the Gregorian calendar but England was still using the Julian calendar.

[kenrexford]

A friend of mine came up with a solution for knowing what day of the week it is.

Mondays just have a feel.
Tuesdays? Just the "two." So far, not so good.
Wednesdays? You start feeling like, "When is the weekend ever getting here?" When's-day.
Thursdays you feel thirsty for beer.
Fridays? That's when you get fried.
Sat-urdays? You sit around all day with a hangover, 'til evening.
Sunday? After the second hangover, the sun seems particularly bright.

Seemed to work OK.

[Rossoneri]

gwnn, on Jun 21 2008, 04:08 PM, said:

nickf, on Jun 21 2008, 09:44 AM, said:

Am I missing something ?

Beyond about 10 years of age, don't most people just know how many days are in each month without the aid of a ditty or two hands?

nickf
sydney

totally not. what planet are you from?

Evidently, same as the one I'm from.

[Al_U_Card]

nor me....did it just the other day.. ..and glad it was there (plus I like to sing)

[helene_t]

nickf, on Jun 22 2008, 04:53 AM, said:

but I tell you what is really scary - is the people who can tell you what day of the week Jun 15, 1702 was, for example.

I've read of savants doing this.

nickf
sydney

I had an uncle who could do that. He was otherwise quite normal.

I believe the formula is not particularly difficult to learn. When my dad took astronomy exam back in 1954 one question was "what day of the week is it today and why". So I suppose anyone with a minor in astronomy could do it then, savant or not.

[andy_h]

nickf, on Jun 21 2008, 05:44 PM, said:

Am I missing something ?

Beyond about 10 years of age, don't most people just know how many days are in each month without the aid of a ditty or two hands?

nickf
sydney

I guess I'm not part of the 'most' group Really, if someone gave asked me a random month like september I wouldn't know it on top of my head lol I would need to think and revert to the knuckles..except for Jan/Feb/Dec as they are the easy ones cuz they're the exception/boundary months.

Quote

but I tell you what is really scary - is the people who can tell you what day of the week Jun 15, 1702 was, for example.

I've read of savants doing this.

Yeah, there's an interesting documentary episode on it "Discovery Channel - Everything you need to know about the brain"

[Gerben42]

I used the knuckle trick before I just "knew it". I never heard of a song related to this.

Quote

I believe the formula is not particularly difficult to learn. When my dad took astronomy exam back in 1954 one question was "what day of the week is it today and why". So I suppose anyone with a minor in astronomy could do it then, savant or not.

The formula is not THAT easy... I knew it at some point, then noticed that I never used it and that was basically the end of it. I never had much use of knowing what day January 1st, 1702 was or so.

[mycroft]

Well, okay, it's a poem not a song, for me, but still.

It's a good way (like bluejak's "Happy Birthday") to count your 10-second skip pause, too (unless you can't help mouthing the words, of course).

[kfay]

Wow. This knuckle trick is about to change my life!

GOODBYE STUPID SONG!

[kenberg]

I voted song.

I mostly just know although if my life depended on being right then I might begin chanting Thirty days has ( No one said "hath" where I grew up) September.... It seems to me that an advantage of the poem is that I do recite actual facts, with the result that after a bit I mostly know these recited facts. If I just go January-February-... , stopping when I get to the month and then consult my knuckles, I might be less likely to get it all straight in my head.

I wonder if I could get a government grant from the Department of Education to study this.

You just asked this question to see how many folks you could get to actually respond, right? I feel like an idiot for doing so, but here it is. Ask and it shall be answered.

Afterthought. I wonder if it depends on the age of first learning the trick. I learned Thirty days etc when I was ver very young. An age when sing-song rhyme is attractive.

[goobers]

Is this the song?

30 days hath September,
April, June, and November.
All the rest have 31--
Just a minute, we’re not done!
February’s the shortest one.
With 28 most of the time,
but in Leap Year twenty-nine.

[blackshoe]

Heh. There is a fantasy role playing game called "Harnmaster", which takes place on a world called Kethira which has 12 30 day months. There, the poem goes something like:

Thirty days hath September,
April, June and November.
All the rest have thirty, too.
I can remember this. Can you?

[barmar]

blackshoe, on Jun 26 2008, 01:16 AM, said:

Heh. There is a fantasy role playing game called "Harnmaster", which takes place on a world called Kethira which has 12 30 day months. There, the poem goes something like:

Thirty days hath September,
April, June and November.
All the rest have thirty, too.
I can remember this. Can you?

The same song works on a world with 376 days in the year.

[Gerben42]

What about a planet with 668 days (and a leap year in odd years and when the year number ends with 0)?

[Al_U_Card]

wtf

30 days hath Sept.
Apr. June and Nov.
When short Feb.'s done
All the rest have 31.