I think its completely on purpose. Same w/ reading and writing. The more unintuitive and unnatural it becomes the less students actually learn. In the end it weakens the nation. Think for a moment about the guys who put men on the moon. They weren’t burdened by ‘new’ maths and all the boutique methods of teaching (or not) reading/writing/geography/etc. These guys understood the rudiments of math and science and had few quick aides to complete the calculations. They also were able to think critically.
It has to be. It is beyond illogical and thoroughly confusing. What a crime to do this to children who are trying to learn.