Growing up in India, cricket was one of the central parts of life. I am also curious, and a tad numerically inclined. So, my favourite pass-time while watching cricket while growing up was calculating run rates, required run rates and other similar fractions while watching a match on TV. This was before the live statistics on TV really kicked off.
An over in cricket is 6 balls. Calculating those averages every 6th ball ensured that I became really good at knowing the various fractions of 6—⅙ to ⅚—in decimal, and at quickly manipulating them within themselves and with other non-3-x numbers.
I don’t really follow cricket anymore. But some of this skill has stayed with me even all these years later :)
I was about to write the discount of a usual annual pricing plan vs a monthly plan. Even before I could think about it, the number 83.33 and 16.77 started bobbing in my head. Those numbers are of course, fractions of a sixth—⅙ is 16.67%, and ⅚ is 83.33%. They were also the correct answers—a typical annual plan costs ⅚th of the monthly plan on an annual basis, implying a discount of 16.67% (⅙).
Aside: I also have a similar, but not as strong, affinity for multiples/fractions of 7. And like most students of computer science, I adore the powers of 2 :)
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