The importance of progressively complex math has nothing to do with its practical use. This is a given in 2018 right?

I see this and wonder if it is a joke or if people are really ignorant as to why the increasing complexity of math is taught in schools. At times I pedantically obsess with things that everyone else simply sees as a lighthearted pun, so forgive me if I'm doing that again.

Our brain has different areas that do different things. As we grow and learn our brains create pathways based on what we are learning. The more complex the information, the more diverse and unique the pathways that are developed. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3170818/

Take for instance when a child is raised in a bilingual household. Besides the superficial benefits outlined in the above picture, something very significant happens in the brain. It builds unique pathways that are based in two different languages. This expands a child's capacity for learning making them learn quicker and easier. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/radical-teaching/201211/bilingual-brains-smarter-faster

Increasing complex math does the same thing. learning more and more abstract, complex math increases your ability to learn by growing more pathways in your brain that can be used on other situations. The problem is you need to grow these new pathways while your young because neuroplasticity decreases with age making learning new things less precise and intricate. (This is why the older you are when you learn a new language, the longer it takes and the more of an accent you'll have). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroplasticity

Not that you shouldn't try to learn new things as an older adult. Just the opposite is true. Learning new skills, testing cognitive function, and learning to understand new abstract concepts such as learning a new language (verbal, written, or computer programming), learning a new math, or even learning a musical instrument may help to prevent declining cognitive ability and dementia. https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/cognitive-health-and-older-adults