Anecdotally, I was not very good at math in school (enough to pass, but not much better), mainly as a result of a lack of motivation. I got interested in math (and subsequently better) when I learned set theory (not in school), as I felt like I understood more about why arithmetic works the way it does. It was hard to motivate myself to learn math when it felt like pointlessly executing algorithms that computers are so much better at anyway. This is obviously just an anecdote, but I feel some sort of exposition to set theory in schools, though maybe not at the beginning of math education may be beneficial. I am now better at math than I used to think, and actually enjoy it, and I think that you are right that many more people could be also.
Anecdotally, I was not very good at math in school (enough to pass, but not much better), mainly as a result of a lack of motivation.
I got interested in math (and subsequently better) when I learned set theory (not in school), as I felt like I understood more about why arithmetic works the way it does.
It was hard to motivate myself to learn math when it felt like pointlessly executing algorithms that computers are so much better at anyway.
This is obviously just an anecdote, but I feel some sort of exposition to set theory in schools, though maybe not at the beginning of math education may be beneficial.
I am now better at math than I used to think, and actually enjoy it, and I think that you are right that many more people could be also.