Top 10 Interesting Facts about Daniel Tammet

Daniel Tammet in Blue Met Festival. Image by MelodyNelson18-Wikimedia

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Daniel Tammet

Daniel Tammet is an autistic savant. He is what Temple Grandin would describe as a pattern thinker autistic. Pattern thinkers tend to excel in math and music but may have problems with reading or writing composition. The man can speak 11 languages, perform mind-boggling mathematical calculations in his head, and can recite the number pi to 22,514 places. He can learn a new language within a week! This already hurts my head a bit! He has authored several books about his autism and savantism.

He became famous in 2004 when he recited and set a European record for the mathematical constant Pi (3.141…) from memory to 22,514 decimal places in 5 hours, 9 minutes, without error. He appeared both on local and international television and wrote several bestsellers books letting us into his world of autism. He went on to lead a short life in the limelight. However, he preferred to live a quiet private life. He emigrated to France and lives in Paris with his partner.

1. He was not an easy child

He is the eldest of nine children and his mother would not describe him as the easiest baby. He was a fussy one; frequently banging his head, screaming, and crying uncontrollably. After he experienced a seizure at the tender age of four, his life was never the same. He started showing extraordinary abilities for a child. He noticed that numbers looked like images rather than digits. He could also calculate ‘big multiplications’ in his head in a matter of seconds. He remembers his childhood fondly. His parents did not have much but they treated him with love and every sibling was made to feel special.

2. He perceives numbers as shapes and colors

Image by tigerlily713 from Pixabay

To most of us, this is strange. Numbers are just numbers to us. However, Tammet sees them differently. In his eyes, every number up to 10,000 is different and unique. Each number is of a different shape, color and texture, and even motion. For example, number 117 is handsome – tall, lanky, and a little bit wobbly, 9 is large and intimidating, and 1 appears as a flashing white light. He also claims that 289 is particularly ugly, 333 is super attractive, and pi is beautiful. The skill could explain why he can do difficult sums in his head. He does not only see them but experiences them.

3. He can recite the number pi to 22,514 digits

What is pi you ask? Well, it is the ratio of the circumference of any circle to the diameter of that circle. This number is approximately 3.14 but pi never ends and the numbers after the decimal point keep going and going (3.14159….). It took him five hours and nine minutes to recite the number 22,514 digits from memory, which according to him, get, was very easy! Why did he commit to the ‘easy task’? he wanted to prove that disability is not inability. There you go, point proven and driven home!

4. Tammet taught himself Icelandic in just one week

Presentations with the word “hello” in 35 languages. Photo by Abbad (WMF)-Wikimedia

He is multilingual. For many, this may mean three to four languages at most. Well, Tammet is conversant in 11 languages (English, Finnish, French, German, Lithuanian, Esperanto, Spanish, Romanian, Estonian, and Welsh). The 11^th language is Icelandic which he learned within a week. When filming a documentary, The Boy with the Incredible Brain, the crew thought they would challenge Tammet to learn a difficult language or so they thought. They picked Icelandic. A week later, their jaws dropped when he fluently spoke the language!

5. He made up his language

On top of all fluently speaking 11 languages, he made up his language, Manti. He published it in 2006. The word Mänti comes from the Finnish word for “pine tree” mänty. Mänti uses vocabulary and grammar from the Finnic languages. He chose the word from his love of trees and Scandinavian languages. He had always had a fascination with words and language from childhood. When he cannot find a word in English, he creates one in Manti. His favorite Mänti word is kellokült which means ‘lateness’ or ‘tardiness’. Its literal translation is ‘clock debt’ or ‘clock guilt’.

6. He was diagnosed with autism at 25 years old

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Even with his remarkable abilities, it took doctors two and a half decades to diagnose him with savant syndrome and high-functioning autism. Lack of a diagnosis has been described as navigating the world as a blind person. It is confusing and frustrating and for 25 years Tammet trotted the world as a misfit. He did not understand people or their language. People saw words while he saw numbers. His autism affects his daily life; he doesn’t like the beach as it has uncountable pebbles, and has to have his tea at the same time accompanied by exactly 45 grams of porridge for breakfast each morning.

7. Medical experts do not understand his mind

Rendering of human brain. Photo by Nicolas Rougier-Wikimedia

They say the human mind is as beautiful as it is unfathomable. Tammet has been diagnosed with autism but his mind makeup still evades the medics.  Some scientists claim that the signals from two hemispheres in his brain may have affected him.  following his childhood epileptic seizures. Others believe that his abilities come from using intensive memory techniques. However, they all agree that he is not intellectually disabled. To us the laymen, we understand this, he is unique and extraordinary.

8. Tammet is a prolific writer

Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

He has authored several books many giving us insights into this extraordinary mind. His memoir, Born on a Blue Day (2006), explores his early life with Asperger syndrome and savant syndrome. It was named a ‘Best Book for Young Adults’ in 2008 by the American Library Association’s Young Adult Library Services magazine. He then went on to write, Embracing the Wide Sky, which became France’s best-selling book of 2009. His book, Thinking in Numbers, (2012) was published by Hodder & Stoughton in the United Kingdom and the following year by Little, Brown, and Company in the United States and Canada. His books have been published in over 20 languages. He has been invited to various platforms to talk about his books and his experiences.

9. He got his name Tammet on the internet

Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

He was born Daniel Paul Corney. He participated twice in the World Memory Championships in London under his birth name, in 2000 but later changed it by deed poll. He claims that the name didn’t fit with the way he saw himself. “I first saw ‘Tammet’ online. It means oak tree in Estonian, and I liked that association. Besides, I’ve always had a love of Estonian. Such a vowel-rich language.”

10. He lives an ordinary life

Photo by Sasha Cures on Unsplash

The genius came and conquered. He settled in Paris with his husband, Jerome Tabet, a photographer whom he met while promoting his autobiography. The shy and soft-spoken still thrives on habits. He operates his business where he teaches email courses in languages and literacy for private clients. He also paints and sells them. The paintings try to depict how he sees numbers. Additionally, he holds an occasional lecture.