I agree with this to some extent, but I think the author goes too far. The purpose of math education is not to make theoretical mathematicians. Only a small n

I agree with this to some extent, but I think the author goes too far. The purpose of math education is not to make theoretical mathematicians. Only a small number of students in math classes will become mathematicians, and the rest are acquiring a set of tools that they'll use to solve problems in the real world. Proofs and conjectures and abstract reasoning, interesting as they may be, are irrelevant to most people's needs. Here's a better analogy: a mathematician is a composer, and people who use math are singers and instrumentalists. There will always be a few people who love composing, and their work is important. But the majority of people have neither the ability nor the motivation to write original compositions. They'd rather just be given music to play. For the composers among us, this can be hard to stomach. Writing music is so exhilarating, and playing is so mundane! How can anyone prefer the latter to the former? Well, the fact is, most people do. The rest of humanity really is different from us, and we need to accept that.