I agree. He tried to memorize his way through Algebra. It is hard to understand his mindset because of the stream of consciousness writing. But he appears to

I agree. He tried to memorize his way through Algebra. It is hard to understand his mindset because of the stream of consciousness writing. But he appears to be confused with definitions versus equality. E.g., By definition (a+b)^2 is (a+b)(a+b). It is not just "equal".