This article isn't necessarily about making ALL math less abstract / challenging. That's arguably impossible. It's about making math more accessible to the masses.
Most college educated Americans have never learned ANYTHING about differential equations, linear algebra, or discrete math... That is a serious shame and you could argue impacts our national productivity/potential. Most people simply will not try to learn higher level math out of fear of failure, challenge, or whatever.
Making SOME higher level math more intuitive is a great objective. I would much rather live in a world where more Americans ultimately understand a higher level of math (regardless if the path to get there was a little less challenging) than leaving math education in it's current state.
Analogy:
How many average American's tried to use computers with just command prompts? I would argue that it was the creation of an intuitive interface ("physical" folders where you store documents) that really started mass adoption of computers throughout the world. Is this less challenging/abstract than command prompts- yes. Is the world vastly more productive because of it? Absolutely.
Most college educated Americans have never learned ANYTHING about differential equations, linear algebra, or discrete math... That is a serious shame and you could argue impacts our national productivity/potential. Most people simply will not try to learn higher level math out of fear of failure, challenge, or whatever.
Making SOME higher level math more intuitive is a great objective. I would much rather live in a world where more Americans ultimately understand a higher level of math (regardless if the path to get there was a little less challenging) than leaving math education in it's current state.
Analogy: How many average American's tried to use computers with just command prompts? I would argue that it was the creation of an intuitive interface ("physical" folders where you store documents) that really started mass adoption of computers throughout the world. Is this less challenging/abstract than command prompts- yes. Is the world vastly more productive because of it? Absolutely.