It remains valuable to consider the first level beyond elementary school mathematics
to be a preliminary stage of advanced mathematical thinking, in which elementary ideas
are stretched to their limits (literally!) before the theoretical crisis they generate requires the reconstruction of a formal view. Many will not require the full range of formal mathematics, being fully occupied with the proceptual complexities of the manipulation of symbols in calculus and algebra. The full range of creative advanced mathematical thinking is mainly the province of professional mathematicians and their students.