If we ignore that it takes "144 facts" compared to "100 facts" for a 10 times table, and take it as a single item of learning, it may not be a big deal. The pr

If we ignore that it takes "144 facts" compared to "100 facts" for a 10 times table, and take it as a single item of learning, it may not be a big deal. The problem is that it's not the only piece of distracting trivia that is heaped on students as something they should know that likely holds little consequence to achieving big picture learning goals like critical thinking and better math skills. A more American example would be memorizing the capital cities of every US state, along with other state trivia. Memorizing things like the state capitals just gives the illusion of education, but is actually a waste of educational resources and learning time. Time, along with the attention span of a child, is a scarce resource. It's good to trim the curriculum when we identify information that has weak relative value, and it's too easy to find something else to replace it.