Be honest: did you actually read [the above geometric proof]? Of course not. Who would want to? The effect of such a production being made over something so simple is to make people doubt their own intuition. Calling into question the obvious by insisting that it be ‘rigorously proved’ … is to say to a student ‘Your feelings and ideas are suspect. You need to think and speak our way.

Be honest: did you actually read [the above geometric proof]? Of course not. Who would want to? The effect of such a production being made over something so simple is to make people doubt their own intuition. Calling into question the obvious by insisting that it be ‘rigorously proved’ … is to say to a student ‘Your feelings and ideas are suspect. You need to think and speak our way.

– Paul Lockhart –

A Mathematician’s Lament: How School Cheats Us Out of Our Most Fascinating and Imaginative Art Form

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