Memory Expert and Mentalist Michael Abrahamson shatters Pi challenge record
Written by admin on October 1, 2019
On official Pi day, 14th March 2019, professional memory expert and mentalist Michael Abrahamson, achieved a remarkable feat when he successfully recalled the first 1500 digits of Pi blindfolded in an astonishing time of just 4 minutes 7 seconds, without a single error. This equates to a rate of 6.073 digits per second, and is the fastest ever official time for over 1000 digits, based on a per second rate.
Four independent judges verified the proceedings while Michael shattered the existing South African record of Marno Hermann, who recalled 1200 digits in 10 minutes 15 seconds exactly a year ago. Michael recited 300 digits more in more than 6 minutes faster than the previous existing record. He now awaits official ratification of his record, which has been sent to the organising body.
Michael was aiming to break 5 minutes, which would have been a rate just faster than 5 digits per second. In the end, his remarkable time was 53 seconds faster than his target.
Abrahamson is best known as one of South Africa’s foremost sports broadcasters. He is a qualified Actuary, a lover of Mathematics and Statistics, and one of South Africa’s top Mentalists and Memory Experts.
Abrahamson has presented hundreds of Memory and Study Skills Courses to various people from all walks of life and has a number of upcoming PowerBrain memory courses. The Pi Challenge was created for people like Abrahamson; people with a penchant for numbers and more importantly those who are up for the challenge to join the ranks of the best memorisers in the world.
The number PI or π or 22/7 is a mathematical constant. Originally defined as the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter, it now has various equivalent definitions and appears in many formulas in all areas of mathematics and physics.
The world record holder (although memorising over 70000 digits), has a time of just over 1 digit per second. Michael has now achieved the fastest ever attempt at more than 1000 digits of Pi as per their official records.
“I feel completely exhilarated. This was one of the hardest memory challenges I’ve ever attempted. It’s hard enough to recall the numbers without error but to do it at breakneck speed for this duration of time is truly a feat I’m very proud of. I’d like to thank my judges for making the time to be available and my wife for her constant and unwavering support for everything I do. Hopefully this effort will put my country on the map and inspire others to achieve greatness and utilise their minds to maximum capacity”, said a mentally exhausted Abrahamson just after his super-human feat.
