chhotii

I sort of do addition that way myself, only it's visual. Base 10 numbers are like containers with 10 spaces, and the container has 6 spaces already full, leaving 4 spaces. You want to add 8 blocks (the items are always perfectly cubical blocks fitting into a rectangular tube), and 4 of them fit into the existing container, leaving 4 to go in the next container. Hence 14. Since it's visual, though, it's essentially instantaneous. I just *see* the way the numbers fit together and that's the answer.

I figure I'm just weird. I certainly never tried to explain this to an adult.