When I was a kid I used to love solving the same problem in multiple ways. I remember during a written test in high school, I solved some pre-calculus problems in 4 or 5 ways within the allotted time. The coolest part for me was seeing that, no matter the approach, they all led to the same answer. I didn't need to wait for my grades back from the teacher to know if my calculations were right. I got confirmation by simply comparing the answers that each method I used provided. I admit that at times periods in Trigonometry provided a two second scare when the results were equivalent but appeared different on paper. Once I had to get my teacher to change my grade precisely for this reason.

Anyway, getting the answer right and seeing which different angles I could take to get to those results were entirely part of the reason why I loved math. The answer wasn't per se the number at the end. The answer was, for each method I employed, the right sequence of logical and mathematically sound steps to that final value.

I would have never really been so fascinated by mathematics and related disciplines if it weren't for that sense of absolute, meritocratic, objective wrong or right.