Everyone is capable of, and can benefit from, mathematical thinking

To my mind, the premature formalization of the math is the principal contributor to gas lighting and alienation of people from maths. The reduction of concepts to symbols and manipulation thereof, is an afterthought. It's misguided for them to be introduced to people right at the outset.

People need to speak in plain English [0]. To some mathematicians' assertion that English is not precise enough, I say, take a hike. One need to walk before they can run.

Motivating examples need to precede mathematical methods; formulae and proofs ought to be reserved for the appendix, not page 1.

[0] I mean natural language

I'm an adult who's been programming computers professionally for 20 years, and went to school for it, and I've lost most mathematical skills past what I'd learned by 6th grade or so, from lack of use.

People who aren't even working in a field that's STEM-adjacent have even less use for stuff past simple algebra and geometry (the latter mainly useful just for crafting hobbies and home-improvement projects) and a handful of finance-related concepts and formulas.

I expect to go to my grave never having found a reason to integrate something, at this rate.

The result is that any time I try to get back into math (because I feel like I should, I guess?) it's not really motivated by an actual need. The only things that don't bore me to tears for sheer lack of application ends up being recreational math problems, and even that... I mean, I'd rather just read a book or do almost anything else.