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Daniel Tammet

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Daniel Paul Tammet
Daniel Tammet speaking at Reykjavík University
Born (1979-01-31) January 31, 1979 (age 45)
United Kingdom London, England, UK
SpouseNeil Mitchell
Websitewww.optimnem.co.uk

Daniel Paul Tammet (born 31 January 1979) is a British high-functioning autistic savant gifted with a facility for mathematical and natural language learning. He was born the first of nine children to working-class parents in London.[1] In his memoir, Born on a Blue Day, he talks of how having epilepsy, synaesthesia, and Asperger Syndrome all deeply affected his childhood.

Biography

Synaesthesia

Experiencing numbers as colours or sensations is a well-documented form of synaesthesia, but the detail and specificity of Tammet's mental imagery of numbers is unusual. In his mind, he says, each integer up to 10,000 has its own unique shape, colour, texture and feel. He can intuitively "see" results of calculations as synaesthesic landscapes without using conscious mental effort, and that he can "sense" whether a number is prime or composite. He has described his visual image of 289 as particularly ugly, 333 as particularly attractive, and pi as beautiful. 6 apparently has no distinct image.[1][2] Tammet described 25 as energetic and the "kind of number you would invite to a party" on The Hour. [3] Tammet not only verbally describes these visions, but has also created artwork: a watercolour painting of Pi.

Tammet was the subject of a documentary in the UK entitled The Boy With The Incredible Brain, which was first broadcast on the British television channel Five on 23 May 2005.[4] The documentary showed highlights of his pi recitation feat, studying the Icelandic language in one week and his meeting with Kim Peek, a world famous savant. In one moment of the show, Peek hugged Tammet and told him, "Some day you will be as great as I am," to which Tammet replied that "that was a wonderful compliment, what an aspiration to have."

Pi

Tammet holds the European record for reciting pi from memory to 22,514 digits in five hours and nine minutes.[5] This sponsored charity challenge was held in aid of the National Society for Epilepsy (NSE) on “Pi Day”, 14 March 2004, at the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford, UK.[6] The NSE was chosen to benefit from this event because of Tammet's experience with epilepsy as a young child. Professor Allan Snyder at the Australian National University said of Tammet: "Savants can't usually tell us how they do what they do. It just comes to them. Daniel can. He describes what he sees in his head. That's why he's exciting. He could be the 'Rosetta Stone'."[7]

Language abilities

Tammet claims to speak eleven languages including English, French, Finnish, German, Spanish, Lithuanian, Romanian, Estonian, Icelandic, Welsh, and Esperanto.

He particularly likes Estonian, because it is rich in vowels. Tammet is creating a new language called Mänti. Mänti has many features related to Finnish and Estonian, both of which are Finno-Ugric languages. Some sources credit Tammet as creating the Uusisuom and Lapsi languages as well.[8]

Tammet is capable of learning new languages very quickly. To prove this for a Channel Five documentary, Tammet was challenged to learn Icelandic in one week. Seven days later he appeared on Icelandic television conversing in Icelandic, with his Icelandic language instructor saying it was "not human" and "genius!". Segments of the interview showing Tammet responding to questions in Icelandic were televised on the 28 January 2007 edition of the CBS news magazine, 60 Minutes.[2]

Born on a Blue Day

In 2006, Tammet traveled to the United States to promote his memoir, Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant.[1] Tammet was born on a Wednesday, a day he perceives as the colour blue. While on his U.S. book tour, he appeared on several television and radio talk shows and specials, including 60 Minutes and David Letterman's Late Show.[1] In February 2007 Born on a Blue Day was serialised as BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week in the United Kingdom.

In this book Tammet claims he learnt pi in 3 months, whereas in the news and with David Letterman he claimed it took him 2 weeks forward and backward.[citation needed]

He also talks about his meeting with Kim Peek, upon whom Rainman was based, as one of the happiest moments of his life. They connected when they asked each other date calculations based on their birthdates, and got the answers correct instantly.

Tammet's new book Embracing the Wide Sky[9], attempts to shed light on the mysteries of savants' incredible mental abilities. In this book, Tammet argues that the differences between savant and non-savant minds have been exaggerated.

Personal life

Tammet and his domestic partner, software engineer Neil Mitchell, have been together since 2002. They live together in Kent where they have a quiet regimented life at home with their cats, prepare their meals from their garden, and prefer their privacy.[10][11] Tammet and Mitchell together operate the online e-learning company Optimnem, where they create and publish language courses. Tammet has publicly discussed his relationship with Mitchell, his savant abilities, and his sexual orientation.[12][13]

Mänti

Mänti (likely pronounced "man-tee") is a language that Tammet has created.[14] The word 'Mänti' comes from the Finnish word for 'pine tree' (mänty). Mänti uses vocabulary and grammar from the languages of Scandinavia. Some sample words include:

  • buss (bus)
  • kuppi (cup)
  • kellokült (lateness, tardiness; literally "clock-debt")
  • nööt (night)[14]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Tammet, Daniel (2006). Born on a Blue Day. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0340899748. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: checksum (help)
  2. ^ a b Morely Safer (28 January 2007). "Brain Man". CBS News. Retrieved 2007-02-02. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/videos.html?id=999589223
  4. ^ Daniel Tammet; Kim Peek; Shai Azoulai; VS Ramachandran (2006). Extraordinary People - The Boy with the incredible Brain (.SWF) (Video). five.tv. Event occurs at (inclusive) 43 min. Retrieved 2007-02-28.
  5. ^ "Pi memory feat". Oxford University. 15 March 2004. Retrieved 2007-02-02.
  6. ^ "Pi in the Sky - New European Record Set". Pi World Ranking List. 15 March 2004. Retrieved 2007-02-02.
  7. ^ Richard Johnson (12 February 2005). "A genius explains". The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-03-10. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ "Uusisuom". Langmaker. Retrieved 2007-02-02.
  9. ^ Tammet, Daniel (2009). Embracing the Wide Sky. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0340961325.
  10. ^ Sarah Lyall (15 February 2007). "Brainman, at Rest in His Oasis". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-04-30.
  11. ^ Caroline Scott (13 August 2006). "Daniel Tammet Life and Style Times Online". The Times. Retrieved 2007-05-26.
  12. ^ Fred Bernstein (2007-06-19). "The Smartest Man in the World is Gay". The Advocate. pp. 44–53. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
  13. ^ Rachel Dowd (2007-06-19). "His Beautiful Mind: Inside the brain of an autistic savant lies a parallel universe". The Advocate. pp. 50–53. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
  14. ^ a b "Mänti". Retrieved 2008-12-15.

External links

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