Your son is a goddamn genius.
Not to dismiss this kid at all, I love that there are channels like 3Blue1Brown to share math to people in a way that really connects with them and builds intuition.
When I was a student you basically just had your math teacher and textbooks to learn from, which meant if you weren’t on the same page as them you’d get left behind. If you went to the library, most math books assume you’re familiar with the language of mathematics, so it can be tough to learn for that alone. I bet a lot of innumeracy is due to that style of teaching, often “I just don’t get math” is “I missed learning this connection and the class just moved on”.
I can offer no concrete solutions.
However, I have a friend who graduated from high school #1 of a big class and 2 years early. His mom explained that if he made at least a 1400(of 1600) on his SAT, she would buy him a new gaming computer. He then proceeded to make exactly a 1400. No more. No less.
I recommend if you haven't tried already, an iteration to this approach using a sliding scale reward system. Perhaps a gaming pc with nvidia 4060ti up to *insert parental budget* in event of a perfect SAT score.
Ofc this only works if he's a gamer. I feel this type of system can be applied in many areas though. In my view, the clever component his mother applied is that the computer he earned was not just a desirable reward... It was VERY desirable.
My parents also tried this system with me. It didn't work as well. The reward was not sizable enough. It just didn't seem worth it. Too low value. Also, I already had a job and bought my own. My parents were unwilling to budget a sufficient reward. It's gotta be something he more or less is unlikely to be able to get via other means.
Now my friend is a physician. He graduated top of his class from med school. I think he's pretty content with life.
The bored ones can be a little more trouble sometimes. Fun breed though. Best of luck.
I like the iterative approach. Perhaps we can ammend the test case with advice to keep the receipt for the first video card and offer an upgrade to a 4070ti on the retake or whatnot.
Or bigger/better boom stick on the retake or whatnot.
Is a good idea if you need a (relatively) constant result because your brain adapts to the idea of getting a satisfying reward.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5geuTf8nqo (+ some other of his videos about rewards)
Additionally, one very important thing to learn as a young adult is how to motivate yourself to do things that have only long term payoffs.
Of course I also understand that you can take SAT only once, so as bad as that is, it’s maybe not the best time to learn a life lesson.
It only sounds complicated because of the words used like "complex", "imaginary", "real".
So if you studied Pythagoras at school and someone (a YouTube video) says you just have to do Pythagoras on the i multiplier and the other number, it would be fairly easy if you understand Pythagoras?
Pythagoras was around the same time. I'd like to warn people that not understanding these basic math concepts makes you appear uneducated to many people internationally.