Poll: 80% of what you learn in school is useless?
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No. I think most of it makes sense.
Maths - Financial matters.
English - Communication.
Science - Medicine...we need doctors and researchers.
History - Perspective.
Geography - Perspective.
Design Tech - Practical skills.
etc.
There is something to take from this stuff. I certainly don't agree with the "we're better off without it" stance.
Maths - Financial matters.
English - Communication.
Science - Medicine...we need doctors and researchers.
History - Perspective.
Geography - Perspective.
Design Tech - Practical skills.
etc.
There is something to take from this stuff. I certainly don't agree with the "we're better off without it" stance.
I would say that the assertion might be true depending upon what you do with your life.
In my case, I'd say that less than 20% of what I've learned in school has been useless. I regularly use my understanding of mathematics when writing software, my grasp of English allows me to easily communicate my ideas, my knowledge of history helps me understand the context of many real world events and my knowledge of literature and art helps me better comprehend the messages found in different types of media.
Now, it should be noted on the mathematical front that it is rare that I need to use terribly advanced mathematics to solve a problem as most problems a computer scientist faces can be solved through the application of arithmetic, algebra and linear algebra and trigonometry. And, when it comes to trig, I've never actually needed to use anything other than standard trigonometry as I've never had to model something that required the use of any conic save a circle.
In my case, I'd say that less than 20% of what I've learned in school has been useless. I regularly use my understanding of mathematics when writing software, my grasp of English allows me to easily communicate my ideas, my knowledge of history helps me understand the context of many real world events and my knowledge of literature and art helps me better comprehend the messages found in different types of media.
Now, it should be noted on the mathematical front that it is rare that I need to use terribly advanced mathematics to solve a problem as most problems a computer scientist faces can be solved through the application of arithmetic, algebra and linear algebra and trigonometry. And, when it comes to trig, I've never actually needed to use anything other than standard trigonometry as I've never had to model something that required the use of any conic save a circle.
It's all useful information. It just depends on what you want to do in life. Some of what you learn won't apply, but it's still knowledge.
A lot of what yo learn will not be used when you leave school due to your choice of subject specialty. But it IS neccessary to expand your brain and give it work
Plus only learning the basics of something makes you more likely to forget than if you learn up to the advanced things
Plus only learning the basics of something makes you more likely to forget than if you learn up to the advanced things
I think a lot of people have a slightly skewed idea of what "useless" means.
I regard very little of the knowledge that I have acquired "useless". Why? Because even though a lot of it doesn't exactly have a practical application, it has given me a more rounded world view and makes me more interesting to talk to.
For example, knowing about WW2 may not exactly help you in day to day life. On the other hand, if someone told you they didn't know who Winston Churchill was, you would think that they were a darned idiot. On top of that, knowledge about WW2 has shaped my opinions about people, war, politics, economics and philosophy. I could say similar things about my knowledge of science, maths or philosophy. I'll never be in a situation where knowing how to measure the speed of a star will put food on the table, on the other hand, when I'm with someone looking up at the sky, we can discuss how we know so much about stars and the implications of the big freeze\crunch theory. Also, good understanding of the scientific method means I'm unlikely to be taken in by pseudoscience. If I choose not to go into a career in science, that probably won't ever be "useful" in the same way that knowledge of electronics is useful to an electrician, but it is useful in countless other subtle ways.
I regard very little of the knowledge that I have acquired "useless". Why? Because even though a lot of it doesn't exactly have a practical application, it has given me a more rounded world view and makes me more interesting to talk to.
For example, knowing about WW2 may not exactly help you in day to day life. On the other hand, if someone told you they didn't know who Winston Churchill was, you would think that they were a darned idiot. On top of that, knowledge about WW2 has shaped my opinions about people, war, politics, economics and philosophy. I could say similar things about my knowledge of science, maths or philosophy. I'll never be in a situation where knowing how to measure the speed of a star will put food on the table, on the other hand, when I'm with someone looking up at the sky, we can discuss how we know so much about stars and the implications of the big freeze\crunch theory. Also, good understanding of the scientific method means I'm unlikely to be taken in by pseudoscience. If I choose not to go into a career in science, that probably won't ever be "useful" in the same way that knowledge of electronics is useful to an electrician, but it is useful in countless other subtle ways.
I'm not sure, but Maths is entirely useless to me since what i want to do has nothing to do with Maths and i'm not even good at it. Pisses me off so much.
Okay I'll do it this way, write down all the subjects I remember having this far and then follow by a comment on how much of it I can use in my life!
Danish: Learned to read and write in Danish. - Needed 100%
Maths: Learned lots of maths that I will never need to do in my head in the future, as I'll have electronic devices around. - 20-30%
Religion/Christianity: Christian holy scripture and basics about a few other religions. - 0-10%
P.E: ...Learning how to run? 0%
Physics/Science: Learned about electricity, magnetism, and pressure, with more to come. - 50-60%
Geography: Geographical stuff. - 50-60 %
Social Studies: Lots of stuff about politics and media: 60-70%
English: 0% -My stepfather is English and has taught me English since age 4. Under other circumstances it would be 100%
German: 0% Needed, but I need to pass an exam in two foreign languages in order to carry on my education, and my school only offers English und Deustch. So 100%
History: History stuff. Not needed, but nice to know. - 0%
Biology: Anatomy, 100%. Everything else in biology was just nice to know - 50%
Woodshop: ...How to shape wood... -0%
Sewing: Nuff' said. - 0%
Cooking class: Staying alive ;P - 100%
Music: Nothing. We had music for the first 5 years of school, in which we never played any proper music and mostly played. - 0%
That's it! About 50-60% after eight years in school this far.
School days should be shorter.
Danish: Learned to read and write in Danish. - Needed 100%
Maths: Learned lots of maths that I will never need to do in my head in the future, as I'll have electronic devices around. - 20-30%
Religion/Christianity: Christian holy scripture and basics about a few other religions. - 0-10%
P.E: ...Learning how to run? 0%
Physics/Science: Learned about electricity, magnetism, and pressure, with more to come. - 50-60%
Geography: Geographical stuff. - 50-60 %
Social Studies: Lots of stuff about politics and media: 60-70%
English: 0% -My stepfather is English and has taught me English since age 4. Under other circumstances it would be 100%
German: 0% Needed, but I need to pass an exam in two foreign languages in order to carry on my education, and my school only offers English und Deustch. So 100%
History: History stuff. Not needed, but nice to know. - 0%
Biology: Anatomy, 100%. Everything else in biology was just nice to know - 50%
Woodshop: ...How to shape wood... -0%
Sewing: Nuff' said. - 0%
Cooking class: Staying alive ;P - 100%
Music: Nothing. We had music for the first 5 years of school, in which we never played any proper music and mostly played. - 0%
That's it! About 50-60% after eight years in school this far.
School days should be shorter.
I think most education is important in the way it stimulates your brain. Even if you don't remember how cos and sin work and never use them in your personal life, you can appreciate how learning about it strengthened your brain as a muscle.
i'd say eng is good for communication skills, organization, and to an extent nonlinear thinking while early math is good for linear thinking.
And here we have a zombie, content to follow the masses as long as someone holds a hunk of flesh in front of them to distract them.Bocaj2000 said:
In Sweden, I think most things we learn at school are useful.
I'm talking about the 7-9th grade btw, the last grades before high schol.
The natural science subjects are useful because they teach you how the world works (I am in a natural science specialized line (is that the word?) in high school so it's extra useful to me)
math and english are useful for obvious reasons and main language (swedish) is useful as most people don't know how to write efficiently and most children that age don't read very much.
social studies (religion, political systems etc.) teach you how the human world works.
P.E. is great, Mens sana in corpore sano.
music, art and such are useful as everyone should have basic understanding of culture.
I'm talking about the 7-9th grade btw, the last grades before high schol.
The natural science subjects are useful because they teach you how the world works (I am in a natural science specialized line (is that the word?) in high school so it's extra useful to me)
math and english are useful for obvious reasons and main language (swedish) is useful as most people don't know how to write efficiently and most children that age don't read very much.
social studies (religion, political systems etc.) teach you how the human world works.
P.E. is great, Mens sana in corpore sano.
music, art and such are useful as everyone should have basic understanding of culture.
I'd say slightly less. I'm possibly biased however, due to me studying Maths-Physics, and having to utilise the skills in presentation and written communication I had to learn. While I think perhaps most of the information we won't retain, the skills that we learn last much longer.
