<p>While thinking we burn calories. For comparison: "And if it’s the right wood and the right chess grand masters in the middle of a tournament, they are going through 6,000 to 7,000 calories a day thinking" from <a href="https://philosophy.stackexchange.com/questions/9391/can-we-measure-the-effort-to-create-a-mathematical-theory-in-terms-of-energy#comment23228_9391">here</a>...</p>

<p>How many calories do we burn when we try to understand mathematical proofs?
How does it depend on the representation of the proof? For example, there are <a href="https://math.stackexchange.com/q/803/19341">plenty of proofs for the Pythagorean theorem</a>, even some <a href="https://math.stackexchange.com/q/103758/19341">without words</a>...</p>

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2014-01-14T15:35:25.293Z
See question [How does the brain's energy consumption depend on mental activity? - biologySE](http://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/839/how-does-the-brains-energy-consumption-depend-on-mental-activity).
Piotr Migdal
<neuroscience><learning><mathematical-ability>
How many calories do we burn when we try to understand mathematical proofs?
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# How many calories do we burn when we try to understand mathematical proofs?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-01-09)

While thinking we burn calories. For comparison: "And if it’s the right wood and the right chess grand masters in the middle of a tournament, they are going through 6,000 to 7,000 calories a day thinking" from [here](https://philosophy.stackexchange.com/questions/9391/can-we-measure-the-effort-to-create-a-mathematical-theory-in-terms-of-energy#comment23228_9391)...

How many calories do we burn when we try to understand mathematical proofs?
How does it depend on the representation of the proof? For example, there are [plenty of proofs for the Pythagorean theorem](https://math.stackexchange.com/q/803/19341), even some [without words](https://math.stackexchange.com/q/103758/19341)...

**Tags:** neuroscience, learning, mathematical-ability

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: See question [How does the brain's energy consumption depend on mental activity? - biologySE](http://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/839/how-does-the-brains-energy-consumption-depend-on-mental-activity).  

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