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Valley man dubbed the "human calculator", plans to start "The Counting Bee"

Posted at 8:11 AM, Sep 12, 2018
and last updated 2018-09-12 11:11:17-04

They call him, "The Human Calculator" -- and it's for good reason!

For decades, Scott Flansburg has inspired a love for math and numbers, and now, he's trying to dive even deeper with Valley kids as he launches, "The Counting Bee."

"I'm wired a little bit differently," explains Flansburg. 

Yup...that claims adds up! But Flansburg's claims are no joke. This Air Force veteran who now calls Paradise Valley home has always had a knack for numbers. 

"I can basically count as fast as I can talk," he says. 

And that's not all he does. He can recall dates like a human calendar, but he says, it all comes down to a simple algorithm. That allows him to figure out what day of the week a certain date will fall on. Let's take this Christmas (2018) for example. 

"All you need is one thing," he tells us. "What is the value for December? So if I tell you December is a 5, just remember that. So now, let's take Dec. 25th.  You have 25 for the 25th, plus that 5 for December. And that gives you a total of 30.  And all you need to do is divide that number by 7 and that remainder will tell you the day of the week. So 30 divided by 7 is for, remainder of 2. So that means Tuesday. If the remainder is one, that means Monday."

Qualifying rounds for the Counting Bee are happening at schools across the Valley right now! The event will be held November 8 in Mesa. For more information, head to https://www.thecountingbee.org/