You can't do abstract algebra without doing 847848161×6413045539 in pen and paper hundreds of times before? That's a new one! > fundamental knowledge ingrained

You can't do abstract algebra without doing 847848161×6413045539 in pen and paper hundreds of times before? That's a new one! > fundamental knowledge ingrained into the fiber of his being I agree! That knowledge being: mathematical reasoning, logic, capacity for abstraction, rigour... and NOT doing stupid mindless work over and over again until you can recite multiplication tables by heart. Sorry, that's accounting, not mathematics.