It's a joke. Like, we joke that the more math you learn the less arithmetic you can do (ok, maybe that one isn't a joke).
In my undergrad abstract algebra class our professor asked us a question about finding the order of a group that involved dividing 32/8 and we all just sat there for ten seconds before someone bravely ventured "...four?"
I've experienced that many times among groups of electrical engineers - we're all fine discussing equations but once its time to plug in the numbers no one wants to volunteer an answer.