This happens so much in education, and specifically academics. A lot of theoretical explanations without stepping back from theory and going back to reality once in a while to ponder about the implications. I passed a lot of courses by memorizing theoretical concepts without truly understanding it. I feel that's wasteful because I'm not advocating for longer lectures, but rather more effective teaching methods (at least they would be for me). Understanding a concept is very different than proving a theorem.
I was told that this was so that they could craft cirriculums that stretch decades when it could be taught much quicker. Doing so would be deterimental to the labor market in academia.
