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What ARE you good at?

Mr Allen

Mr Allen

Well-Known Member
V.I.P Member
Well we had a topic on here last week asking what people are NOT good at, so I thought I'd do the opposite topic, to find out what y'all ARE good at.

Me? I'm good at martial arts. programming, web design, gaming, cooking frozen foods, and contrary to my Dad's opinion, I'm not bad at singing, I'm also a good swimmer and a decent bowler, I can get Strikes without the Bumpers up anyway.

So anyway, what are YOU good at?
 
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I'm good at thinking. Also calm in a crisis. Flexible and laid back. Cooking within reason. Rising above housework. Seeing the upside. Hope. Finding a way....
 
I excel at taking a small set of rules and finding every implication, variation, and strategy. It makes me good at games, (game theory), word and logic puzzles, math (following the rules to see what you can do with them), programming (finding a solution with the given tools), patents (finding every variation of an idea) ... and seeing every little way any system can be abused (Okay - this one is annoying. I get a lot of malicious ideas that I don't dare tell anyone about, for fear that someone will do them).

All the reward for me is in finding the solution. Once I've found the solution, the implementation is not interesting, and I have to force myself to focus to actually get it done. I'm like the opposite of everyone else I work with - solving the hard problems is easy for me, but doing the straightforward daily work is hard.

I was told by the counselor who diagnosed me that one effect of autism is having a "highly systemized brain". In many areas, this means inflexibility as I want the same routine all the time. However, I have to agree that I do have a highly systemized brain and I can work within any system I know the rules to.
 
I am a good swimmer who is competing at the CP world games next week.

I can play a good game of boccia, I can do my own kind of art, I know obscure facts and details about dolls, I can do maths and I can remember random facts about things.
 
Languages, English and foreign spelling and grammar; fine finger co-ordination; reading aloud; music; colour co-ordination; deep thought; noticing things other people miss.
 
Problem solving, research, photography, gardening/plants, singing, puzzles, poker, chess and other board games.
Creative, good at visualization, meditation, tai chi, art.
Intuitive and analytical.
Notice detail and things others don't.
And over thinking. :confused:
 
I tend to be very good with computers, networks, and technology in general. However, I don't love these when I have to work on them for a living. I am also discovering that I am a really good truck driver, I just had lousy mentors when I first tried it 2 and a half years ago. I got in with a good company and I had a trainer that really knew how to teach. He even knew how to teach stress management. For the first time since learning to drive a semi, I actually feel somewhat comfortable and safe doing it.
 
My most obvious skill, since childhood, is mental calculation. In elementary school I used to get more math homework than others and these multiplications, i.e. calculating in my head how many blood cells a certain body contained. When they asked how I calculated it so fast I said I just saw the numbers pop up in my head, the only thing I had to do was add them up.

Almost a year ago, I had my first meltdown. I had never experienced that before and neither did my mom and younger brother. Police and doctors etc were wandering through our house that night, it was that intense. Since that meltdown, my visual memory has decreased a lot but on the upside my mental abilities increased. I remember after 3/4 days of sleeping constantly after the meltdown, I wanted to check myself and did a 4 by 4 multiplication in my head which I had solved in 40 seconds. I asked my brother for a devision sum and I had to devide 13 by 63 and I went further than the calculator. I saw the numbers better and felt them better. Today I have experienced that I have my good days and bad days where my mental calculation speed changes and my visual memory is still very bad.
 
albinoblanke said:
My most obvious skill, since childhood, is mental calculation.
Click to expand...

That's pretty cool. I read a lot of old math books, and some of them mention certain people who were initially thought to be "dull" but were later discovered to be "lightning calculators", (people who could do hard math problems in their head, at lightning speed). I'm pretty sure those were autistic people, before autism was defined.

I have a reputation at work for being a math whiz, but I'm definitely not a "lightning calculator". I use a lot of tricks and shortcuts. When I explain to other people how I do it, they always say, "Oh! I could learn that!" ... but they don't because they're not interested enough. I'm the only one interested enough to remember and become fluent in all the tricks.
 
Nervous Rex said:
That's pretty cool. I read a lot of old math books, and some of them mention certain people who were initially thought to be "dull" but were later discovered to be "lightning calculators", (people who could do hard math problems in their head, at lightning speed). I'm pretty sure those were autistic people, before autism was defined.

I have a reputation at work for being a math whiz, but I'm definitely not a "lightning calculator". I use a lot of tricks and shortcuts. When I explain to other people how I do it, they always say, "Oh! I could learn that!" ... but they don't because they're not interested enough. I'm the only one interested enough to remember and become fluent in all the tricks.
Click to expand...

I always thought I was fast enough myself and using techniques felt like cheating even though I know using them would make me even faster than I am now. It is the same reason why I don't use a memory palace and other techniques.
Savants are often known for having the ability to do lightning fast calculations. Daniel Tammet is someone like that, my calculating ability has been compared to his before by some but I lack his linguistic skills.

Could you perhaps explain how you would calculate, for example, 4313x7329 with your techniques?
 
I'm good at typing, and my spelling and grammar are really good most of the time, I do make the odd typo but that's only because I type quite fast.
 
albinoblanke said:
Could you perhaps explain how you would calculate, for example, 4313x7329 with your techniques?
Click to expand...

Something of that size, I typically wouldn't do in my head. I just tried and it took me about 5 minutes to do, and I got lost and had to restart twice. I had to put some of the numbers in my "spoken memory" (by reciting the number and remembering the recitation) and some in my visual memory as printed text.

I did 13 * 7329, first. I typically go left to right with the digits, since it's easier to recite (the opposite of the right to left method that works fine on paper). So I did 13 * 7 = 91, then 13 * 3 = 39, which makes 13 * 73 = 949, then shift left and add 26 for 9516, and again for 13 * 9, yielding 13 * 7329 = 95277. I put that aside (repeating "95277" occasionally so I wouldn't lose it).

Then I did 43 * 7329 with 43 * 29 = 43 * (30 - 1) = 43 * 30 - 43 = 1290 - 43 = 1247. Having worked out that 43 * 30 = 1290, I can add 12900 + 1247 = 12947 + 1200 = 14147. So 43 * 329 = 14147. Finally, 43 * 7 = 280 + 21 = 301, so add 301000 to 14147 to get 315147. Remember to shift that over since it's not really 43, it's 4300 to get 31514700.

Finally, add the two: 31514700 + 95277 = 31514777 + 95200 = 31514977 + 95000 = 31609977
 
Nervous Rex said:
Something of that size, I typically wouldn't do in my head. I just tried and it took me about 5 minutes to do, and I got lost and had to restart twice. I had to put some of the numbers in my "spoken memory" (by reciting the number and remembering the recitation) and some in my visual memory as printed text.

I did 13 * 7329, first. I typically go left to right with the digits, since it's easier to recite (the opposite of the right to left method that works fine on paper). So I did 13 * 7 = 91, then 13 * 3 = 39, which makes 13 * 73 = 949, then shift left and add 26 for 9516, and again for 13 * 9, yielding 13 * 7329 = 95277. I put that aside (repeating "95277" occasionally so I wouldn't lose it).

Then I did 43 * 7329 with 43 * 29 = 43 * (30 - 1) = 43 * 30 - 43 = 1290 - 43 = 1247. Having worked out that 43 * 30 = 1290, I can add 12900 + 1247 = 12947 + 1200 = 14147. So 43 * 329 = 14147. Finally, 43 * 7 = 280 + 21 = 301, so add 301000 to 14147 to get 315147. Remember to shift that over since it's not really 43, it's 4300 to get 31514700.

Finally, add the two: 31514700 + 95277 = 31514777 + 95200 = 31514977 + 95000 = 31609977
Click to expand...

Wow. To me that seems like a very long way of calculating it. I also calculated the same multiplication but it took me around a minute in my head and today is my day off, I just took something for my headache. The fastest calculation I ever did was a 4 by 4 multiplication in 15 seconds. The largest multiplication I have done so far in my head is 349,330x367,531 which is equal to 128,389,604,230. Took me 8 minutes to calculate it and it was very exhausting.

Do you use techniques for subitizing?
Subitizing is knowing how many things there are without counting. For example, if I showed you three apples, you would know there were 3 apples without counting. The average for subitizing is 4 or 5 things for most people. My boundary is either 7, 8 or 9. Haven't completely figured it out yet as I keep showing progress, at first I thought my limit was 5 at a time like the average but I soon felt like I could do 6 and now I know I can subitize atleast 7 things. Some savants can subitize up to 100 without counting.
 
levelheaded, good in a crisis,
logical process thinker,
honest - loyal - up front,
languages
swimming, cycling, waterskiing,
cooking,
 
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