The article presumes that the point of mathematics class is to produce numbers that match the ones in the back of the book or an instructors answer key. This is

The article presumes that the point of mathematics class is to produce numbers that match the ones in the back of the book or an instructors answer key. This is incorrect. The point of mathematics class is to build skills for deduction - drawing valid conclusions from data (often numerical). Real life problems do not come with an answer key, and real life problems tend to be hotly contested. My stock one-off conversation on this issue with my own students is to consider (particular example varies based on background of the student) the manager of an engineering firm who has tasked two teams for an calculated minimum thickness of the main supporting cable on a suspension bridge. Team A returns after a while and says 3 inches. Team B says 4 inches. Do we go with the 3 inches, which one team believes is unsafe? Do we go with a bid based on the 4 inches where we may be beat on cost? Numbers are just numbers. They are orthogonal to answers, orthogonal to arguments.