I only sort of agree. I still think that by forcing you to do that, by making you practice, makes the calculations "muscle memory" in that you aren't memorizing the answers but can do the calculations faster and faster each time.

Sure. Some people could memorize them. But others will learn to calculate quickly.

[–] Bldck@beehaw.org 1 points 2 days ago

It frees you up to do more complicated arithmetic. Geometry would be too slow if you didn’t innately understand 3*60=180. Which you don’t get without 3*6=18