I think PJ is using the word "scam" in a different way. He's not calling Stan a scam artist. He's saying that CTE uses a false premise that sounds good and motivates some players. Maybe scam wasn't the right word but PJ specifically said Stan is not scamming anyone intentionally.
The only thing I would add is that when something absurd is being put forward there are always two unattractive explanations. Take flat earther's, for example. Are they scamming and punking people for monetary or other reasons, or is their reasoning ability so poor that they actually believe what they are saying?
Yeah, when people don't understand why something works out, like the Inscribed Angle Theorem or a Square Root for example, as long as they can use it and make it work, then "why" it works isn't important, which means almost any explanation can be attached to it and many will say, "Ok, that makes sense", even though it doesn't.
A good example: The square root of 64 is 8. It's 8 because 8 X 8 = 64. You learned it through memorization. Now someone comes along and tells you this, "You don't have to memorize if you just do it like I do. I know the solution is 8 because 6 + 4 = 10, and 6 - 4 = 2, so therefore 10 - 2 = 8". Well you'd think that was pretty cool. It's a neat little coincidence, but it's not why 8 is the square root of 64. Using that logic process the square root of 25 would be 4, not 5 (5 + 2 = 7, 5 - 2 = 3, then 7 - 3 = 4). But the square root of 36 would work out correctly because 6 + 3 = 9, and 6 - 3 = 3, then 9 - 3 = 6. So it works, but it doesn't work everytime or very often.
In order to use this square root reasoning/logic and arrive at a correct solution, you'd first have to know the correct solution and then tweak the numbers when needed to make the process arrive at that known solution.
Like when you see 49, you'd have to tweak one or both numbers to make it work. Eventually you learn all the little tweaks. With 49, for example, sticking strictly with the process would give you 8. But experience tells you 8 is not right. You know the square root of 49 is 7. So you'll have to tweak the numbers in order to arrive at 7. Here you could subtract 0.5 from the first step, (4 + 9)
- 0.5 = 12.5, then add 0.5 to the second step, (9 - 4)
+ 0.5 = 5.5, and now 12.5 - 5.5 = 7, the answer you know is right. With enough practice and repetition, you'll eventually be able to make the process work for a lot of numbers. Or you'll realize that you could've already memorized most of the solutions you're trying to work out.