Poll: 80% of what you learn in school is useless?

[Korolev]

It REALLY depends on what subjects you take and what you do later in life. I went into Biology, and I can tell you that science and later Chemistry/Biology were REALLY useful for getting to terms with the content in first year university courses. Maths B (Medium maths in Australia) also helped a bunch with the stats course, and I use algebra sometimes (not often though). I also took Maths C (advanced maths in Australia), and I never used a damn thing I learned in Maths C, but someone who went into physics or engineering almost certainly would.

As a rule, science, history, english and maths are always useful - because knowledge helps shape your worldview. If you don't know much about history, you might not be able to interpret events in Israel and Palestine correctly. If you don't know much science, politicians can trick you by lying to you. If you don't know maths, how do you know which economic policies make sense? How will you know if your insurance deal really is value for money? And English IS REALLY important if you want a decent job that doesn't require you to work in the sun all day or stay up all night. And English, Science, History and Maths make up at least 60% of what you learn in school.

Knowledge helps influence your world view and can help adjust your attitude towards life. That is more valuable than anything. The process of learning, accumulating knowledge and then applying that knowledge successfully helps build critical thinking skills.

 

[Kl4pp5tuhl]

Ok lets see: Foreign languages you never wanted to learn in the first place, own language, geography, religion classes, arts & crafts.

That's kinda 50%, the remaining ones are math, physics, chemistry, biology and physical education. They're the real important subjects.

 

[Vhite]

100% agree, at least on high school.

 

[Iron Lightning]

It depends on how specialized your career choice is. A theoretical physicist will probably not have much use for his knowledge of biology and history while an editor of the Encyclopedia Britannica will probably need to make use of all his knowledge.

 

[DeathChairOfHell]

School is to give everyone a base. By having a good selection of all topics, it allows you to make an informed decision later in your life. Wouldn't it be horrible if your carrier path was chosen for you when you were in kindergarten, and you never had any other teaching except in that field.

Also School is to teach us how to learn. One can use the basic fundamentals of learning, to teach themeless, or at least know were to find the resources needed to find more information.

this i agree with fully.

 

[DeathChairOfHell]

School, no. 30%-50%, sure, but not 80%. College, on the other hand, absolutely. Most of it is either a retread of what you learned in high school or just useless in its own right. College is for the degree more than the knowledge.

But imagine the things you wouldn't know if you had never been to school. Not a pretty picture.

they are from now on called NASCAR drivers

 

[Darth Sea Bass]

More like %90 if you ask me!

 

[Daffy F]

Maybe the stuff you learn isn't useful until you get to the age of about 16, but it is a massively important secondary agent of socialisation. It teaches children to perform their role in society. (In theory)

 

[ParkourMcGhee]

There's always a use for something, even trivia or whatever!

You never know what might come in handy in the future!

 

[Shivarage]

Everything you learn in school is useful. It just depends on how you use it.

Have you ever had to find the volume of a cone?

 

[Prof. Monkeypox]

I wouldn't say it's that high, but a lot of what you learn is fluff. No knowledge is completely useless, though.

The one big exception is when teaching becomes standardized, then the knowledge is inapplicable to most situations.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Everything you learn in school is useful. It just depends on how you use it.

Have you ever had to find the volume of a cone?

Possibly the wrong person to ask as I'm a Maths Degree student. But it's more the application of learning than the actual mechanics that's useful. Remembering how you remembered what the volume of a cone was is probably still useful today.

Especially given the amount of times you'll have seen questions here that can be answered by simply performing a Google search - sort of what you'd do if you wanted to find the volume of a cone... see the relevance?

 

[adderseal]

It doesn't matter what they make you learn, the point is to teach you how to think and process information quicker, making you more intelligent. For example, making you remember dozens of maths problems doesn't help you unless you're going on to have a career in maths, but it does give you better memory skills.

 

[adderseal]

Ok lets see: Foreign languages you never wanted to learn in the first place, own language, geography, religion classes, arts & crafts.

That's kinda 50%, the remaining ones are math, physics, chemistry, biology and physical education. They're the real important subjects.

Ok, so based on that you'll be a scientific robot with zero social skills and zero cultural knowledge. Nice going.

 

[Grounogeos]

I actually believe most of what you learn in school is useless... most of the time.

It depends on what you're doing with your education, really. Some jobs just don't need some of the things they teach in school.

 

[Cuppa Tetleys]

Although you will most likely NEVER need 80% of stuff that you learn in school, it contributes to a vast supply of knowledge and helps develop your understanding of topics you might otherwise never touch on.

 

[The Night Shade]

Kinda,in maths only 1 to 7 grade is usefull the other years you are not going to use almost anything they teach you.
Language is also pretty useless in almost all years that i had wih language i only use what i learned 1 to 6 grade,the other years were a waste of time

 

[Lyx]

I voted 90%. School regarding mental growth is about the most useless and even antiproductive things in society. I would have expanded my abilities and understanding like a dozen times faster, wider and deeper, if the relevant info could just get downloaded, and my parents would had teached me (which to some extend they in fact did - with 1 year of at-home learning, i was like 4 years ahead when i entered school). Plus while in school my abilities and motivation stagnated for years because of the bullshit that it is. School stupidifies people - its not about understanding (actually discourages it) - its plain braindead memorization of mostly useless things.

 

[Space Spoons]

The specifics of what you learn might be kind of useless, but the underlying concepts are invaluable. You're probably never going to need to know how to solve linear equations in your everyday life, sure, but critical thinking skills, reading comprehension and an understanding of basic-to-midlevel mathematics are all skills you absolutely do need.

 

[Shivarage]

Everything you learn in school is useful. It just depends on how you use it.

Have you ever had to find the volume of a cone?

Possibly the wrong person to ask as I'm a Maths Degree student. But it's more the application of learning than the actual mechanics that's useful. Remembering how you remembered what the volume of a cone was is probably still useful today.

Especially given the amount of times you'll have seen questions here that can be answered by simply performing a Google search - sort of what you'd do if you wanted to find the volume of a cone... see the relevance?

Smarty pants xD

I kinda meant an actual cone in the context of reality =P