Other commenters have said similar things, but I want to express this with my own words. To do mathematics requires multiple skills, and an aesthetic sense may be an underappreciated one of them. You argue that Scott has a good aesthetic sense. I also think that Scott probably has good abilities in some of the skills necessary for doing mathematics. But from Scott’s account he appears to be lacking in other skills. Why do you think that what Scott has is sufficient? You mention that early college courses are not representative of real math, but even at higher levels you need skills such as reading formulas, applying algorithms, and understanding the implicit meaning of unmotivated (or even imperfectly motivated) definitions. Keep in mind the Scott relates here that other people skilled in math have tried to educate him outside of a college context.
I’m saying I think your conclusion is wrong, I’m uncertain myself. And even Scott admits “I don’t know if it’s that I’m bad at math, or that I just don’t enjoy math enough to be intrinsically motivated to pursue it,” (same link as above), which sounds a bit like a way of retreat to your way of thinking.
Other commenters have said similar things, but I want to express this with my own words. To do mathematics requires multiple skills, and an aesthetic sense may be an underappreciated one of them. You argue that Scott has a good aesthetic sense. I also think that Scott probably has good abilities in some of the skills necessary for doing mathematics. But from Scott’s account he appears to be lacking in other skills. Why do you think that what Scott has is sufficient? You mention that early college courses are not representative of real math, but even at higher levels you need skills such as reading formulas, applying algorithms, and understanding the implicit meaning of unmotivated (or even imperfectly motivated) definitions. Keep in mind the Scott relates here that other people skilled in math have tried to educate him outside of a college context.
I’m saying I think your conclusion is wrong, I’m uncertain myself. And even Scott admits “I don’t know if it’s that I’m bad at math, or that I just don’t enjoy math enough to be intrinsically motivated to pursue it,” (same link as above), which sounds a bit like a way of retreat to your way of thinking.