@KeithDevlin
It seems you haven't read any of the debates. You said "you are no longer doing algebra, you are doing arithmetic" - precisely! And the debates are around whether "implicit multiplication" is a rule or not (it isn't). Without fail every person who gets the wrong answer (this is a high school Maths question with a right or wrong answer, no "it depends" answers) has forgotten the rules of Terms and The Distributive Law, and THAT is what the debates are about. https://dotnet.social/@SmartmanApps/110897908266416158