I met this kid while doing a show for FOX last summer. The show still hasn't aired, but hopefully later this year. Javen is on my episode and he is a rockstar. He was taught since a young age, how to calculate using a mental abacus. Sounds crazy, but apparently this allows for large and difficult calculations to be performed in the head because all you're seeing are beads moving around in your head: a lot easier to visualize than meaningless numbers. Mental abacuses (abaci?) have been a fascination of mine for a long time, so having a chat with Javen is like a dream come true. It's interesting to hear what he thinks of his mathematical education and how he feels about numbers. Have a listen!