Upvoted for an interesting take, even though I disagree with some of it.
I took 61A from bh. Personally, I agree with bh's statement that you quoted. Where I encountered difficulty was applying the ideas in a different context (e.g. C or Java). Brian spent time addressing this precise difficulty (in the last lecture or so), but it still wasn't enough for me.
I do heartily agree with you calling out "the pathological worship of the abstract over the concrete". Knuth's Concrete Mathematics was also bucking this trend (e.g. https://youtu.be/GmpxxC5tBck?si=tRHQmuA4a-Hapogq&t=78). I'm curious, once you came to this opinion/realization, how did your teaching/learning change?
Indeed, we have significantly more data. However, it seems that we have significantly less _truth_ than at any point in my lifetime, at least.
"Data" evokes images of objective, agenda-less sensors just sitting there, measuring, and passing on what was measured. But in reality, there is a substantial human element in capturing and recording "data" (e.g. SF crime statistics).
I'm not saying other options can't work. I am saying data is overrated in our current, heavily-divided and politicized, world.