# Are we heading into a post-literate age?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-heading-into-a-post-literate-age/773412>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [November 29, 2016, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-heading-into-a-post-literate-age/773412 "2016-11-29T22:46:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-heading-into-a-post-literate-age/773412/21 "2016-12-03T18:21:23Z")

</div>

> [@Nava](#):
>
> Why would anybody who knows how to multiply numbers with more than one digit need to learn times beyond 10? Learning the general technique is a lot more useful.

I think the idea is that dozens are a fairly commonly used measurement for things like say… donuts, so if someone says “Get me 7 dozen donuts”, you don’t have to necessarily work out that it’s 84 donuts, since you’ve memorized your multiplication tables up through 12x12, which is 144, or a gross.

That’s the only real reason I can see for going up to 12.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-heading-into-a-post-literate-age/773412/22 "2016-12-03T20:19:30Z")

</div>

> [@bump](#):
>
> That’s the only real reason I can see for going up to 12.

\<insert Spinal Tap joke here\>

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-heading-into-a-post-literate-age/773412.md?page=1)