I wish mathematics education would incorporate more history and philosophy. Personally, I was never great at math in school, less because of aptitude and more because I just found it boring and disconnected from the things I found interesting as a kid.

Years later, I’ve been slowly trying to “catch up” with my mathematical knowledge, and I find myself the most interested in topics that relate to the lives of mathematicians (and how events impacted their work) and to the philosophy of mathematics. I didn’t get any of this in school math classes, which focused purely on calculations and formulas.

I had the same experience with accounting, as well: boring in isolation but fascinating when connected to the history of double entry accounting in Italy, global trade from the 1500s onwards, and so on.