[palata]

Would you be able to do your numerical work without understanding what an addition or a subtraction is?

I feel like arithmetic is part of the basics to build abstraction. If I say "y = 3x + a", somewhere I have to understand what "3 times x" means and what the "+" means, right?

Or are you saying that you can teach someone to do advanced maths without having a clue about arithmetic?

[recursive]

You can have a solid understanding of "+" without being able to quickly add three digit numbers.