Yr student don't have a problem with Math
He have a problem with English
I think at least part of it is psychology.
When we see the word 'maximum' we tend to equate it with 'a
lot', and when we see the word 'minimum', we equate it with 'a
little'.
At least, that would be the knee-jerk response of people who
just dive right in without properly establishing the context
first.
To be fair to the kid, I did struggle a bit for precisely that
reason when I was first learning about minimum wages and maximum
rents in economics.
I had to hammer into my head that minimum wages
must be set above the equilibrium, and
maximum rents must be set below
the equilibrium.
Anyway, the kid finally managed to get the point when I
explained that choice (a) gets him $1000 at most, while choice (b)
can make him a billionaire if he wants.
