# How does this work??? **URL:** \ **Category:** NYSpeed Off Topic\ **Created:** [November 29, 2006, 6:25pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-does-this-work/20876 "2006-11-29T18:25:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JDMSIR](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/jdmsir/32/7376_2.png) [@JDMSIR](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/JDMSIR)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 6:25pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-does-this-work/20876/1 "2006-11-29T18:25:44Z")
> **[The Flash Mind Reader](http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/mind)** > > The Flash Mind Reader, a Flash Animated video by Andy Naughton. I cant figure it out. ---
**Author:** ![JDMSIR](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/jdmsir/32/7376_2.png) [@JDMSIR](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/JDMSIR)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 6:27pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-does-this-work/20876/2 "2006-11-29T18:27:27Z")
Nevermind I found out. “The Flash Mind Reader” - How It Works So my roommate sent me this Flash Mind Reading thing at [http://mr-31238.mr.valuehost.co.uk/assets/Flash/psychic.swf](http://mr-31238.mr.valuehost.co.uk/assets/Flash/psychic.swf), frustrated with it and herself, mystified about how the thing worked. Lots of bloggers have linked to it, and it surprises me the number of people who this frustrates. I figured it out. Before I reveal how I figured it out, and why it works, let’s review the instructions: "Choose any two digit number, add together both digits and then subtract the total from your original number. When you have the final number look it up on the chart and find the relevant symbol. Concentrate on the symbol and when you have it clearly in your mind click on the crystal ball and it will show you the symbol you are thinking of" ## ================================================================ STEP 1: Choose any two digit number There are lots of those! Numbers 10 to 99. And to emphasize all those choices we get a graphic filled with wingdings: # Dizzying! All those possibilities. All these numbers the computer has to figure out when reading your mind! How can it do it? Can it do it? Is it possible that a computer can read my mind? ## ================================================================ STEP 2: add together both digits and then subtract the total from your original number. # Oh. Actually it’s not going to read the number I thought of. It wants me to do math first. It’s still impressive if it can do it though, because there are so many possibilities. If I think of a really hard number that nobody will have thought of, I can beat this stupid thing and prove it wrong! ## ================================================================ STEP 3: When you have the final number look it up on the chart and find the relevant symbol. Concentrate on the symbol and when you have it clearly in your mind click on the crystal ball and it will show you the symbol you are thinking of # So you do the math, and the thing works! Aigh! and I chose my number so carefully! ## ================================================================ SO HOW DOES IT WORK? It turns out that for all the possible numbers you can choose, there are not all that many possible results to the calculation you are asked to do on the number you choose. Here’s all of the possible numbers, alongside the calculations: ±--------------±------------------±-------------------+ | ALL TWO | THE DIGITS | THE DIGIT TOTAL | | DIGIT | ADDED | SUBTRACTED | | NUMBERS | TOGETHER | FROM THE NUMBER | ±--------------±------------------±-------------------+ | 10 | 1 + 0 = 1 | 10 - 1 = 9 | | 11 | 1 + 1 = 2 | 11 - 2 = 9 | | 12 | 1 + 2 = 3 | 12 - 3 = 9 | | 13 | 1 + 3 = 4 | 13 - 4 = 9 | | 14 | 1 + 4 = 5 | 14 - 5 = 9 | | 15 | 1 + 5 = 6 | 15 - 6 = 9 | | 16 | 1 + 6 = 7 | 16 - 7 = 9 | | 17 | 1 + 7 = 8 | 17 - 8 = 9 | | 18 | 1 + 8 = 9 | 18 - 9 = 9 | | 19 | 1 + 9 = 10 | 19 - 10 = 9 | | 20 | 2 + 0 = 2 | 20 - 2 = 18 | | 21 | 2 + 1 = 3 | 21 - 3 = 18 | | 22 | 2 + 2 = 4 | 22 - 4 = 18 | | 23 | 2 + 3 = 5 | 23 - 5 = 18 | | 24 | 2 + 4 = 6 | 24 - 6 = 18 | | 25 | 2 + 5 = 7 | 25 - 7 = 18 | | 26 | 2 + 6 = 8 | 26 - 8 = 18 | | 27 | 2 + 7 = 9 | 27 - 9 = 18 | | 28 | 2 + 8 = 10 | 28 - 10 = 18 | | 29 | 2 + 9 = 11 | 29 - 11 = 18 | | 30 | 3 + 0 = 3 | 30 - 3 = 27 | | 31 | 3 + 1 = 4 | 31 - 4 = 27 | | 32 | 3 + 2 = 5 | 32 - 5 = 27 | | 33 | 3 + 3 = 6 | 33 - 6 = 27 | | 34 | 3 + 4 = 7 | 34 - 7 = 27 | | 35 | 3 + 5 = 8 | 35 - 8 = 27 | | 36 | 3 + 6 = 9 | 36 - 9 = 27 | | 37 | 3 + 7 = 10 | 37 - 10 = 27 | | 38 | 3 + 8 = 11 | 38 - 11 = 27 | | 39 | 3 + 9 = 12 | 39 - 12 = 27 | | 40 | 4 + 0 = 4 | 40 - 4 = 36 | | 41 | 4 + 1 = 5 | 41 - 5 = 36 | | 42 | 4 + 2 = 6 | 42 - 6 = 36 | | 43 | 4 + 3 = 7 | 43 - 7 = 36 | | 44 | 4 + 4 = 8 | 44 - 8 = 36 | | 45 | 4 + 5 = 9 | 45 - 9 = 36 | | 46 | 4 + 6 = 10 | 46 - 10 = 36 | | 47 | 4 + 7 = 11 | 47 - 11 = 36 | | 48 | 4 + 8 = 12 | 48 - 12 = 36 | | 49 | 4 + 9 = 13 | 49 - 13 = 36 | | 50 | 5 + 0 = 5 | 50 - 5 = 45 | | 51 | 5 + 1 = 6 | 51 - 6 = 45 | | 52 | 5 + 2 = 7 | 52 - 7 = 45 | | 53 | 5 + 3 = 8 | 53 - 8 = 45 | | 54 | 5 + 4 = 9 | 54 - 9 = 45 | | 55 | 5 + 5 = 10 | 55 - 10 = 45 | | 56 | 5 + 6 = 11 | 56 - 11 = 45 | | 57 | 5 + 7 = 12 | 57 - 12 = 45 | | 58 | 5 + 8 = 13 | 58 - 13 = 45 | | 59 | 5 + 9 = 14 | 59 - 14 = 45 | | 60 | 6 + 0 = 6 | 60 - 6 = 54 | | 61 | 6 + 1 = 7 | 61 - 7 = 54 | | 62 | 6 + 2 = 8 | 62 - 8 = 54 | | 63 | 6 + 3 = 9 | 63 - 9 = 54 | | 64 | 6 + 4 = 10 | 64 - 10 = 54 | | 65 | 6 + 5 = 11 | 65 - 11 = 54 | | 66 | 6 + 6 = 12 | 66 - 12 = 54 | | 67 | 6 + 7 = 13 | 67 - 13 = 54 | | 68 | 6 + 8 = 14 | 68 - 14 = 54 | | 69 | 6 + 9 = 15 | 69 - 15 = 54 | | 70 | 7 + 0 = 7 | 70 - 7 = 63 | | 71 | 7 + 1 = 8 | 71 - 8 = 63 | | 72 | 7 + 2 = 9 | 72 - 9 = 63 | | 73 | 7 + 3 = 10 | 73 - 10 = 63 | | 74 | 7 + 4 = 11 | 74 - 11 = 63 | | 75 | 7 + 5 = 12 | 75 - 12 = 63 | | 76 | 7 + 6 = 13 | 76 - 13 = 63 | | 77 | 7 + 7 = 14 | 77 - 14 = 63 | | 78 | 7 + 8 = 15 | 78 - 15 = 63 | | 79 | 7 + 9 = 16 | 79 - 16 = 63 | | 80 | 8 + 0 = 8 | 80 - 8 = 72 | | 81 | 8 + 1 = 9 | 81 - 9 = 72 | | 82 | 8 + 2 = 10 | 82 - 10 = 72 | | 83 | 8 + 3 = 11 | 83 - 11 = 72 | | 84 | 8 + 4 = 12 | 84 - 12 = 72 | | 85 | 8 + 5 = 13 | 85 - 13 = 72 | | 86 | 8 + 6 = 14 | 86 - 14 = 72 | | 87 | 8 + 7 = 15 | 87 - 15 = 72 | | 88 | 8 + 8 = 16 | 88 - 16 = 72 | | 89 | 8 + 9 = 17 | 89 - 17 = 72 | | 90 | 9 + 0 = 9 | 90 - 9 = 81 | | 91 | 9 + 1 = 10 | 91 - 10 = 81 | | 92 | 9 + 2 = 11 | 92 - 11 = 81 | | 93 | 9 + 3 = 12 | 93 - 12 = 81 | | 94 | 9 + 4 = 13 | 94 - 13 = 81 | | 95 | 9 + 5 = 14 | 95 - 14 = 81 | | 96 | 9 + 6 = 15 | 96 - 15 = 81 | | 97 | 9 + 7 = 16 | 97 - 16 = 81 | | 98 | 9 + 8 = 17 | 98 - 17 = 81 | | 99 | 9 + 9 = 18 | 99 - 18 = 81 | ±--------------±------------------±-------------------+ We can now see that despite the fact that we get to choose from numbers 10 to 99, really, there are only 9 possible numbers to be put on our mind. So while there are lots of symbols provided, we only have to worry about 9 of them: 9 18 27 36 45 54 63 72 81 And if we look close, we’ll find that despite the fact that the symbols are randomized, there is a peculiar consistency in the Mind Reader: multiples of 9 always share the same symbol. Refresh the page and you’ll see a new symbol, but 9 and 45 and 81 (and the rest of them) will always share that new symbol.