I don't know why this is, but I have a real issue with counting. I find it really hard to count things accurately, especially if they all look the same. Might be the old #ADHD, might be something else.
I'm also terrible at mental arithmetic. I can't hold numbers in my head for long enough to do any maths to them. If I can write them all down, it's fine.
Given that I struggle with simple maths, my job is kind of ironic, but I promise I an adequate at the kind of maths needed for astronomy!
@astronomerritt I am also bad at mental math, my working memory is too short to both hold and manipulate numbers. I'm pretty sure I have dyscalculia, but there is no real point in getting a formal diagnosis as an adult.
I think that there are a lot of astronomers/physicists who have similar types of math neurodivergence. Something about how physics is taught allows for people who understand concepts and are creative with math but bad at the details.
@astronomerritt When I was at CERN, there was a group who did pub trivia in Geneva. The one non-physicist on the team, the spouse of one of the scientists, had to answer all of the math questions. The physicists were useless at simple math.
@kellylepo @astronomerritt Yeah, I've definitely had plenty of meals that raised the question "how many physics PhDs does it take to properly split a check?"
I do think that doing symbolic math or geometry or logic is not quite the same cognitive skill as arithmetic, so they're only loosely coupled. In my experience, experimentalists who constantly have to make estimates related to things they're building are generally better at estimates and doing math in their head than theorists, despite the fact that the latter usually have an arguably deeper background in math.
