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I also had trouble memorizing arithmetic/multiplication tables. To this day I have no idea what 7*8 is (I can spend a few seconds figuring it out but I just nev

I also had trouble memorizing arithmetic/multiplication tables. To this day I have no idea what 7*8 is (I can spend a few seconds figuring it out but I just never memorized it like most people). For some reason my university math courses disallowed calculators, and I vividly remember sitting in my Calculus III course counting those "number dots"[0] on every exam. [0]: https://64.media.tumblr.com/uwQaNeR4EjfyqysnvQFexD3vo1_400.jpg https://64.media.tumblr.com/uwQaNeR4EjfyqysnvQFexD3vo1_400.j...

Kluny 5y ago
Think 5-6-7-8. 7 times 8 is 56. Or use a calculator, who cares. Arithmetic is mostly memorization.
sneak 5y ago
I'm in the same boat. 8*7 is naturally 8 squared (64) minus 8. :D
- Ekaros 5y ago
  Or 7 squared (49) plus 7. Which for some reason is stuck in my brain...
pavel_lishin 5y ago
I don't understand how those number dots are supposed to help with multiplication.
stordoff 5y ago
I never bothered learning them either (apart from the squares, which stuck quickly for some reason) - I just got fast enough at working them out from known values (squares, 10x is trivial, 5x is half of that) that no one could really tell the difference. I think it actually helped me in some ways, because those "tricks" (mentally breaking it down into simpler steps) generalise to larger numbers quite well.
ergot_vacation 5y ago
Exact same thing here. I'm actually having a moment realizing this is more common than I thought. Everyone always acted like it was the easiest thing in the world (even the ones that hated math) and that I must have brain damage or something. But to this day, if you put a gun to my head, I could not tell you what 7*8 was in any less that a minute (and possible not at all without some paper to work it out).
- cutemonster 5y ago
  You don't happen to work with software anyone of you? I wonder if this "math dyslexia" has caused any tricky situations at the workplace
  - drewzero1 5y ago
    I failed tons of those timed tests in school and have gotten better at basic math only somewhat recently, by practicing with a calculator. I don't work with software per se but I do write some software in the course of my work, and haven't had any issues from my difficulty with math. (At least, not since having to re-take Calculus and reshuffle my major back in college.) One of the reasons I originally decided I wanted to work with computers was that (in a general sense) I could tell the computer to do the math for me. I always loved playing with calculators and seeing what I could get them to do.
    - cutemonster 5y ago
      Ok :-) thanks for the reply
  - fermentation 5y ago
    I’m an engineer (embedded systems and graphics) and it has never once been an issue.
    - cutemonster 5y ago
      Graphics? Hmm when I was coding 3d graphics there was matrix multiplication and rotation etc, makes me wonder if comparatively hard things like that, work fine, although some of the easy things don't? And someone with dyslexia can write an amazingly good novel, I presume.
fukmbas 5y ago
Absolutely ridiculous. Bitch to the dean. There's literally no reason to not allow calculators
mbrameld 5y ago
I break 7 * 8 down into 7 * 2 * 2 * 2, which is much easier to do in my head.

Kluny 5y ago

Think 5-6-7-8. 7 times 8 is 56. Or use a calculator, who cares. Arithmetic is mostly memorization.

sneak 5y ago

I'm in the same boat. 8*7 is naturally 8 squared (64) minus 8. :D

Ekaros 5y ago
Or 7 squared (49) plus 7. Which for some reason is stuck in my brain...

pavel_lishin 5y ago

I don't understand how those number dots are supposed to help with multiplication.

stordoff 5y ago

I never bothered learning them either (apart from the squares, which stuck quickly for some reason) - I just got fast enough at working them out from known values (squares, 10x is trivial, 5x is half of that) that no one could really tell the difference. I think it actually helped me in some ways, because those "tricks" (mentally breaking it down into simpler steps) generalise to larger numbers quite well.

ergot_vacation 5y ago

Exact same thing here. I'm actually having a moment realizing this is more common than I thought. Everyone always acted like it was the easiest thing in the world (even the ones that hated math) and that I must have brain damage or something. But to this day, if you put a gun to my head, I could not tell you what 7*8 was in any less that a minute (and possible not at all without some paper to work it out).

cutemonster 5y ago
You don't happen to work with software anyone of you? I wonder if this "math dyslexia" has caused any tricky situations at the workplace
- drewzero1 5y ago
  I failed tons of those timed tests in school and have gotten better at basic math only somewhat recently, by practicing with a calculator. I don't work with software per se but I do write some software in the course of my work, and haven't had any issues from my difficulty with math. (At least, not since having to re-take Calculus and reshuffle my major back in college.) One of the reasons I originally decided I wanted to work with computers was that (in a general sense) I could tell the computer to do the math for me. I always loved playing with calculators and seeing what I could get them to do.
  - cutemonster 5y ago
    Ok :-) thanks for the reply
- fermentation 5y ago
  I’m an engineer (embedded systems and graphics) and it has never once been an issue.
  - cutemonster 5y ago
    Graphics? Hmm when I was coding 3d graphics there was matrix multiplication and rotation etc, makes me wonder if comparatively hard things like that, work fine, although some of the easy things don't? And someone with dyslexia can write an amazingly good novel, I presume.

fukmbas 5y ago

Absolutely ridiculous. Bitch to the dean. There's literally no reason to not allow calculators

mbrameld 5y ago

I break 7 * 8 down into 7 * 2 * 2 * 2, which is much easier to do in my head.