Getting "Good" at Math vs. Kindling a Passion For It

I was just listening on my car radio to a PBS show featuring an interview with a young man who, as the result of a street mugging that left him with a concussion, suddenly began to discover that he was inclined to view his reality in mathematical terms, focused on geometry.  I don't know how his story ended, because at the time a squall line was about to strike, with me racing into my Magnolia Parke Starbucks parking lot to get inside before all hell broke loose...so I left the program unfinished and rushed indoors to escape the deluge.  Now that I'm inside having taken the last available table...with that hell now breaking loose outside...I'm reflecting a bit on what it takes to be "good" in mathematics...

I'm not being arrogant or prideful when I state that I have always registered extremely high in mathematical ability on aptitude tests (e.g. my SAT math score was the maximum 800).  However, that aptitude never translated well to the classroom, where I consistently underachieved.  Why?  I have always felt turned off by the combined hyper-competitive and moralistic tone of most math classes.  By this I mean that the focus was rarely on the fascinating field of mathematics itself, but rather on the performance of the math students.  We were supposedly in some kind of de facto competition with each other to see who was "best", and failure to answer questions correctly always seemed to have a moral sense of condemnation.  The irony is that whenever I undertake the study of something for its own sake, free of competitive pressures, then I naturally tend to float to a higher level than others.  The young  mathematics scholar on the radio program had independently developed his own high level of competence in the field, relatively free of the aforementioned distractions and obstacles imposed in formal math instruction.  He envisioned mathematics ultimately in its geometric form, according to how his brain's functioning had changed following the assault...

I don't believe I need a bop on my head in order to get good at mathematics, but then again, that young man wasn't necessarily trying to "get good" at it, either.  No, he was able to kindle a passion for mathematics based on the mental equipment he was furnished according to his circumstances.  I see no reason why I couldn't follow the same principle, albeit with the particular gifts toward the field that I have been provided...