> there is Keith Devlin involved.... I am sure he enjoys it a lot to be in a position where he can write pedantic falsehoods while at the same time being taken seriously
I don't think his argument (or the similar argument being made in the subject article of this thread) for not teaching students that multiplication is repeated addition is a "pedantic falsehood". I think he has a valid point: that there are downsides to teaching students one thing, and then later coming back and saying "well, that thing you were taught before isn't actually correct...", and that a different approach is possible. One can argue about the pros and cons of each approach, but I don't think it is helpful to just dismiss one side of the argument as "pedantic falsehoods".
I don't think his argument (or the similar argument being made in the subject article of this thread) for not teaching students that multiplication is repeated addition is a "pedantic falsehood". I think he has a valid point: that there are downsides to teaching students one thing, and then later coming back and saying "well, that thing you were taught before isn't actually correct...", and that a different approach is possible. One can argue about the pros and cons of each approach, but I don't think it is helpful to just dismiss one side of the argument as "pedantic falsehoods".