[Book Review] The World Seen by People with Dyscalculia

Hello everyone. I am Naseka.
I define myself as a philosopher and book reviewer.
I define myself as such.

I didn't think it was much to boast about,
but when it comes to arithmetic,
I have almost never had any trouble.

When it came to mathematics,
especially around geometry,
my utter lack of aptitude
became prominent,
and I began to feel insecure about it,
but I never had any trouble in elementary school.

I thought this was thanks to my father,
who drilled his own mysterious pride as an engineer
into me with Spartan discipline,
and my mother, who threw me into a mental arithmetic school
I didn't even want to attend
because both my parents had learned it.
(I hated both of them.)

But after reading the book I am covering this time,
I realized that was by no means
the only reason.

Regardless of the merits
of the education I was given,
I was able to be an elementary school student who was good at arithmetic
because I had the aptitude
to understand that education.

There are people in the world who are bad at arithmetic.

I learned that this can sometimes be caused by reasons
that cannot be settled by reckless arguments
like "lack of motivation" or "lack of comprehension."

Personally, this is one of the most enlightening books
I have seen in recent years.

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I like knowing worldviews

Since I became an adult
and started enjoying reading,
I have come to like knowing
various worldviews.

This is not the kind of worldview
often talked about in manga or anime.
(Personally, I think "world view" is the appropriate expression
in that context.)

A worldview in the original sense.
In other words,
knowing "how the world looks."

Even though we should be seeing the same things
physically,
the scenery seen through those eyes
is surprisingly different for each person.

"How does the world look
to this person's eyes?"

It is fun to imagine the qualia
that can never be shared,
and by knowing one, I have the feeling that
the world within me expands.

|The World Seen by People with Dyscalculia

In that sense,
it is a truly intriguing title.

I say this without any ulterior motives, but
I could not understand
the perspective of people who are bad at arithmetic.

Sure, when it comes to school tests,
one might lose points due to
calculation errors, misreading word problems,
or misunderstanding formulas and theorems.

But at the very least, if I read the textbook,
there was nothing I couldn't understand.

I had to recite the multiplication table over and over
to hammer it into my head, but other than that,
I feel like I understood things easily.
…Or rather,
since I have no memory of struggling,
that must have been the case.

However, there are people in this world
who are not like that.

Being bad at mental arithmetic, not being able to memorize the multiplication table.
I can sort of understand that.

Mental arithmetic involves processing numbers in the brain,
which overlaps with the image
(my hobby)
of reading moves in shogi,
and the multiplication table is truly a world of rote memorization.
I'm not bragging, but
I have a reputation for having a poor memory,
so I actually think it's a wonder
that I was able to memorize it at all.

But, not being able to intuitively understand the magnitude of numbers with different digits.
Feeling that the '6' in '6 strawberries'
and the '6' in '6 elephants'
are completely different numbers.

These sensations are things I have
never felt before.
Not only have I never experienced them,
I had never even heard of them.

Although I didn't have many friends,
having gone from elementary school through university,
including those around me,
I have never heard of this even once.

That means,
it must have a fairly low level of awareness.

And because of the lack of understanding from those around them,
they are likely being looked at with pity,
thinking, 'Why can't this person
even do this kind of calculation?'

I have some personal experience with this.

Things that everyone around me can do without any effort,
I absolutely cannot do.
In fact, I cannot understand
why those around me are able to do them.

The sense of isolation from that,
I wonder how great it must be.

As I was thinking about those who suffer in that way,
I remembered that I had
a similar experience in the past.

During a physical education class,
when we played basketball.
I absolutely could not
do a layup shot.

Even setting aside the fact that I was bad at ball games in general,
this technique alone was
on a completely different level of difficulty.

From what timing should I
start the shooting motion,
and at what timing
and with which foot should I take off,
I absolutely could not understand at all.

Even so, my classmates,
(regardless of whether the shot goes in or not)
take their shots quite naturally.

No matter how intently I watch their movements,
I cannot understand the mechanism at all.
I myself cannot even
put into words
why I am unable to do it.

The discomfort and loneliness of that time
were indescribable.
I even felt resentful toward them
for not trying to understand my struggles.

And perhaps, people with dyscalculia
have felt the same way about me.
"Why can't this person
understand?"

And in this world, there are others
suffering from the lack of understanding of those around them.
It is likely impossible
to fully understand
what everyone is struggling with.

Even so,
just knowing that "there is such a way of seeing the world"
will surely change
my own perspective as well.

The world as I see it
is by no means common to everyone.

If many people understood that fact,
the world would surely become a kinder place.

Recommended for people like this!

・Those who want to learn about dyscalculia
・Those who want to understand the feelings of people who struggle with math
・Those who think that
being good at math is a given

Thank you
for reading.

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