I memorized pi to a couple of hundred digits in high school. I did it by repeatedly typing it into my calculator during math class, after I’d finished the assigned problems. An informational poster about pi, with a border comprising about 300 digits, was my source.
There is no particular use in knowing pi to that degree of accuracy, and yet there is value in it. It doesn’t help me in my work, but it helped me understand how to do my work.
It especially helped me to understand:
- Repetition is the source of memorization.
- The right tools make the job easier.
- You can take any skill beyond the point of positive returns on investment.
- Mastering one skill naturally leads to taking on another, more challenging one.
- The useless skill of yesterday can be the party trick of tomorrow.
I’m not saying it’s worth memorizing pi to the nearest 10^-300th, but I am saying it might lead you down some other interesting roads, in time.