Math is taught so badly, that it may seem more complicated than it really is. For instance, many students come away from their math classes, convinced that math is subjective. They believe that, like in English class, the correct answer is the one that the teacher wants to see, and that there is a "trick" for producing this answer.

I saw this, teaching college math for one semester long ago, and also in talking with adults about their experience in high school and college math.

As a consequence, a person may be completely functional at basic math, such as balancing their checkbook, while simultaneously believing that they don't understand math.