I don't know whom to agree with. Maybe there need to be two tracks, and it might not even depend on discipline, but just personal preference. Do you love math as an art form, or as a problem solving tool? Or both?
I went back and forth. I was good at problem solving, but proofs were what made math come alive for me, and I started college as a math major. Then I added a physics major, with its emphasis on problem solving. But I would have struggled with memorizing formulas if I didn't know how they were related to one another.
Today, K-12 math is taught almost exclusively as problem-solving. This might or might not be a realistic view of math. On the one hand, very few students are going to become mathematicians, though they should at least be given a chance. On the other hand, most of them are not going to use their school math beyond college, yet math is an obstacle for admission into some potentially lucrative careers.
At my workplace, there's some math work to be done, but only enough to entertain a tiny handful of "math people," seemingly unrelated to their actual specialty.
I went back and forth. I was good at problem solving, but proofs were what made math come alive for me, and I started college as a math major. Then I added a physics major, with its emphasis on problem solving. But I would have struggled with memorizing formulas if I didn't know how they were related to one another.
Today, K-12 math is taught almost exclusively as problem-solving. This might or might not be a realistic view of math. On the one hand, very few students are going to become mathematicians, though they should at least be given a chance. On the other hand, most of them are not going to use their school math beyond college, yet math is an obstacle for admission into some potentially lucrative careers.
At my workplace, there's some math work to be done, but only enough to entertain a tiny handful of "math people," seemingly unrelated to their actual specialty.