His assumptions may be faulty but that isn't the point, he constructed at least a somewhat reasonable model and extrapolated some number crunching.
The OP link claims a few students tried (for no reason) to divide 125 by 5 and failed to do even that. There is no right answer obviously, it is how you play and tinker with it - the more mathematical tools you have in your toolbox the more you could improvise, see also Credit Default Swaps.
Nerds like to conflate basic competence at technical skills with intelligence. :)
However, while being able to muck about like this doesn't necessarily prove one is smart it at least demonstrates some capacity for learning and exploration. I think that is the gist of the lament - that schools don't play with math, they drill - and agree with its spirit.
His solution isn't much different from solutions most of the kids were giving.
That is when faced with problem you don't understand
-throw away the problem
-solve something you are comfortable with
-try to convince others it is the solution of the original problem
We don't need people who fabricate data and make unfounded guesses.
The OP link claims a few students tried (for no reason) to divide 125 by 5 and failed to do even that. There is no right answer obviously, it is how you play and tinker with it - the more mathematical tools you have in your toolbox the more you could improvise, see also Credit Default Swaps.
Nerds like to conflate basic competence at technical skills with intelligence. :)
However, while being able to muck about like this doesn't necessarily prove one is smart it at least demonstrates some capacity for learning and exploration. I think that is the gist of the lament - that schools don't play with math, they drill - and agree with its spirit.