Respectable, pro mathematicians don't obfuscate. But there are definitely math professors in non-top universities who get kicks out of torturing students and th

Respectable, pro mathematicians don't obfuscate. But there are definitely math professors in non-top universities who get kicks out of torturing students and think "this is supposed to be hard" etc. I'm definitely a math enthusiast but I have personally met people like that. Typically the exams are under strong time pressure and are more about rote learning of fixed types of exercises and remembering definitions. On the other hand, I had math profs who radiated curiosity and fun and the exams were just a few questions, but you had to think to solve them and you weren't under much time pressure. So while mathematicians aren't purposefully obscure, the math people (teachers) the average person interacts with are sometimes purposefully obscure.