BRAINS TAXED TO THE MAX WITH PERSONAL PASS CODES : THE MARCH OF NUMBERS.

Byline: Calvin Woodward Associated Press 

Author Paul Dickson figures he leads a 76-digit life. Although he works at home, without all the codes and passwords of an office, that's what he keeps in his head to get through an average day.

He's not alone. Today's minds are crowded with a random swirl of digits and characters. Too crowded, for anyone who has stared blankly at a bank machine, suddenly at a loss for numbers.

So frozen you could hear a PIN drop.

After years of worry about conformity and facelessness, the digit revolution is upon us.

And apart from whether that is a worthwhile trade-off for modern efficiencies and security, this much is clear: Some memories are being taxed to the max.

People juggle Personal Identification Numbers, one password to unlock the fancy car, another for home security, another for the gym locker, another to reset the radio when the car battery dies.

At work the burden grows: the computer log-on, the phone message code, the Internet passwords, different access numbers for different hallways.

At one federal agency, people must key in the numbers for a sequence of baseball players' uniforms to get from point A to B.

And that's not counting all the digits needed to make widgets: the endless spew of employee, tax, benefit and inventory numbers in the workplace.

``It's almost frightening the numbers we live with,'' says Dave Johnson - and he works for number-hungry AT&T.

On occasion, even psychologist Terry Libkuman forgets his computer log-on - and he has taught memory at Central Michigan University.

Such scholars believe the typical mind can commit only five to nine unrelated items to short-term memory. Long-term memory is vast but, like a big old warehouse, you can't always find something there when you need it.

``What will happen is you'll probably get a lot of interference,'' Libkuman said. ``It can be very easy for those numbers to become confused.''

New technology is not the only strain on memory. Even those little area codes are suddenly up to mischief - quick, where's 757? (Norfolk, Va.) You can't count on area codes having a one or zero in the middle anymore.

Rafts of numbers also are needed on hand if not in the mind: the 32 digits, for example, that it can take to make a call with a credit card on a phone using a different long distance carrier.

That's a long way from Pennsylvania-6-5000, to cite one storied and real phone number from the past. Or a mere 0, still available, but slow and often pricey.

``The things we have to remember are harder to remember because they're less interesting,'' says Dickson, who has written widely on cultural quirks and laments the numerical march in his latest book, ``What's in a Name?. . .''

Rian Smith is good with numbers - and good thing. The International Finance Corp. consultant came up with 222 digits in her memory, a range of vital or obvious statistics from phone codes to shoe size.

Her bank account number recently doubled to 14 digits. She still knows it.

But like many people, she does best with a keyboard in front of her or a phone in her hand, when she does not stop to think.

``My fingers know the numbers,'' she says. ``My brain does not.''

Even as technology pushes people closer to digit overload, it can pull them back. Coded cards, phones that program a variety of numbers and Internet search engines help skirt some numerical swamps.

But even using cash, you can't buy your way out.

Plunk down a dollar to buy a wire at Radio Shack and you will be pressed for your name, address and phone number - to be entered in its database and added to its mailing list.

1863: Advent of free mail delivery in cities encourages use of numbered addresses. Before, people came to post offices for mail addressed only by name and city.

1879: In Lowell, Mass., a doctor worried that sick local phone operators would be replaced by workers unfamiliar with the community suggests phone numbers be assigned. The idea spreads.

Early 1900s: Typical way to make phone call: Ring operator and ask for exchange by name and party by number: Early 1900s: Telephone and population growth prompts big cities to add digits. As Glenn Miller's band celebrated in song, the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York was Pennsylvania-6-5000, or 736-5000.

Dec. 1, 1936: First Social Security number is issued, to John D. Sweeney Jr. of New Rochelle, N.Y.

1951: Direct long distance calling is introduced in Englewood, N.J., and nation is divided into area codes.

1960s: Named telephone exchanges begin to be phased out because of the limited possibilities available from the letters grouped on the dial.

July 1, 1963: ZIP codes are introduced.

1971: First ATM introduced, in Atlanta.

1983: Post Office introduces ZIP Plus 4 - four more digits allowing mail to be routed to specific carrier routes or post office boxes.

1984: Calling cards simplify payment of long distance calls while requiring user to punch more keys.

Sources: AT&T, Postal Service, Social Security Administration, American Bankers Association.

CAPTION(S):

Photo, Box

Box: THE MARCH OF NUMBERS (See text)

Photo: (Color) Working form his home in Garrett Park, Md., spares author Paul Dickson from having to memorize even more digital codes.

Associated Press