I can't agree at all with this premise that we don't need to know advanced math. Knowledge of how things move, change, and interact is of practical use all the time. And, being able to understand data and make predictions are important no matter what your job is.

I feel that saying that the usefulness of math is overrated is akin to saying that toilets are overrated. Sure, we got by just fine without them, but in a modern society with a large population, this is a crucially important ingredient for progress.

Understanding gradients is a good example here - it gives you a much more realistic perspective on everything from good real estate deals to good social skills. Gradients are invisible but you can see them everywhere if you have a solid understanding of math. Sure, teaching people how to take tests is overrated, but this is not an indictment of math, no way.

Pair programming is an amazing way to work and to learn. You just have to BE SURE that you have two keyboards and two mice.

I realize that the original question was in reference to remote pairing, but I don't know anything about that. Just chiming in about pairing.

slashdot is the best source for relevant political information. the community here is good at determining the real consequences and implications of the issues that many don't understand.