Most people aren't passionate about math wholesale. They are passionate for activities that require a strong fundamental in math. That's always been my core reservation with how we currently deem students worthy of learning and applying skills into a career. SAT's feel like the high school equivalent of what the tech industry will joke about as "well you lead a team into launching a multimillion dollar product, but you can't reverse a binary tree on the spot, so...".

But if they have data that shows that it works out for them, I don't have any capacity to argue with the results.

Agree that math on its own isn’t the truly compelling thing for everyone.

I do believe that, since it fundamentally links and describes all sorts of observable phenomena, math is a gateway to a general understanding of the universe. And so might lead someone to their true passion.

I also hear you on the “binary tree” front - focusing exclusively on particular algorithms like that is a hiring antipattern, imo. Where I differ is that I treat math as one level lower and more fundamental - the ability to understand why the algorithm works at all and to prove it to yourself if you wanted to. And correspondingly the toolset to construct algorithms of your own.

I don’t think people need to readily recall partial differential equations on a daily basis, or be able to spot recall how to factor a complex polynomial.

I do think taking practice at those things builds mental strength that is useful for detecting patterns, chasing theories, describing and testing facts, and solving puzzles, and that that’s the true value of math education.