When you need to multiply 7*8 do you simply have it memorized, or do you need to add, subtract or otherwise connect it to another math fact that you know better?
That is do you simply think "56" or are there more thoughts that lead to 56?
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@futurebird I hated having to memorize times tables in elementary school. But I got fast at using the parts I did remember. So I would do 7*6 as (6*6)+6. And 8*6 as (6*6)+(2*6). So effectively I just memorized the 2, 5, 10 and square tables and derived everything else by addition and subtraction.
@futurebird I always know it's 42 because that is the answer to life, the universe and everything.
All other multiplication challenges are a combination of all four listed answers
@futurebird is it relevant that I though "six seven" even though I'm a millenial? and this one, I do take the result from memory - though I had to reconstruct it from 7*5 (memory) + 7 to reassure myself
@futurebird 6*7 is 42, which I have memorized like most of the multiplications up to 12*12.
But 9*6 = 54 is one I can never remember on its own. I always go 8*6 and then add 6.
@aesthr @futurebird funny how everyone has *one* multiplication pair that just doesn't compute :-D
@aesthr @futurebird the 9s are easy though! Because it’s whatever the non-9 number is (6) minus 1, so 5, then make it add up to 9 (5+4=9). I have no idea why this is easier for my brain than any other addition/subtraction 😅
@futurebird Good question. Also, what is the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything?
@futurebird Ah you edited. Now I look like an idiot. It was bad enough just being one.
I thought about leaving it, but it seemed too confusing.
Look at the edit history if you want a laugh.
If that's how your brain is working this morning, I recommend you don't play around with 57 just now:
https://hsm.stackexchange.com/questions/6358/story-of-grothendiecks-prime-number
@futurebird that's the mistake the lab rats made when they built the earth
@futurebird@sauropods.win ...56?
I will edit it because it's confusing and the human equivalent of data poisoning to leave it as it is.
@futurebird @troberts
I think you'll need to start over with a new poll. Your data is skewed because some people responded "other" before you edited the question.
@sloanlance @futurebird @troberts
"All polls are flawed, but some are useful." -- internet misquote by me
@futurebird We spent ages learning "times tables" by rote up to 12 (a hangover from the imperial measurement system), so in principle the answer to any small multiplication just springs to mind. Strangely some combinations seem to be unusually tricky to rememer, and 7*6 is one of them. Whereas 7*8 is much easier.