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I think the point is that many students do not even consider that math
should "make sense". To them, math is a bunch of rules to follow. For
example, many years I had the opportunity to observe an 8th-grade
algebra class. Many students had so much trouble memorizing all of the
rules, they could no longer subtract two numbers (like "4-2"; they would
say it equaled 6). Now I am teaching juniors majoring in life science
areas and I'd say a significant number will solve (x=at) for t by
multiplying the left side by a or subtracting a from the left side
"because that is just the way it is done". Asking them why that should
work produces a look as though you were from another planet - it just
never occurred to them that the "rules" are supposed to make sense.