If that title did not get your blood pumping, then I don’t know what will.
Seriously though, let’s talk about some academic subjects you might study and be employed in. More likely though, let’s talk about those you almost certainly won’t be.
In school, how many times did you say or hear “why are we learning THIS? We will never use it after this class! What’s the point?”
A fair question, that is often asked when people are deep in the midst of some ionic and covalent bonds in chemistry class, a Robert Frost poem in English literature, or polynomial functions in math class.
First of all, I DO think more time and effort should be placed on “life skills” in high school and college. Teach us the things we actually need to know, how to do taxes, manage and invest money, deal with debt…how to craft a resume, how find a job that actually suits our talents and personality, or how to decide upon insurance and property options…plus legal matters, and a great number of other things.
I find there to a be a lot of merit to that idea, and it certainly has more practical benefits than many of the things we are forced to learn, but I would argue that there IS a reason we learn them.
The reason isn’t so simple, and goes far beyond the actual subject matter itself.
True, you probably do not NEED to know that the Edict of Nantes, signed in 1598, provided new freedoms to the Huguenots of France that had hitherto lived under monastic rule that suppressed their religious expression.
You do not need to know this is order to be a highly functional human being in modern society.
I’ll concede that, but all these subjects are more about cognitive development than anything else. Think of them as mental push-ups. That exact phrase is how my creepy algebra teacher put it, actually.
The academic subjects are just the vehicles. It isn’t about remembering all the facts and concepts for your entire life. It isn’t about the thing itself, but about how you do those things while you are dealing with those facts and concepts.
The way you “do” history and other social studies is drastically different than the way you “do” science. They require entirely different types of thinking…entirely different types of problem-solving, and solving problems is one thing that IS incredibly applicable to all parts of life, and no one methods fits every circumstance.
Without being forced to do these different types of mental activities, you are stunted. When it comes to problem-solving, sometimes you can only think within the framework of your experience, but a diverse education broadens and deepens your capabilities.
I’ve had a diverse education myself, holding a Bachelor of Arts and also a Bachelor of Science degrees. The way I deal with life today is largely informed by the way I learned to handle the tasks within these disciplines.
A diverse education taught me different approaches to life. I know to conceptualize a problem, how to do the research into it, and how to communicate a possible solution. The nature of these academic processes, just like their “real life” counterparts, require some nuance dependent on different situations.
Furthermore, it’s cognitive development, but it’s also ingraining you with the concepts of time management, and task requirements, expectations, and due dates. Again, I don’t know about you, but those things aren’t going away for me anytime soon.
If I hadn’t spent so much time on these “useless” and impractical concepts, I legitimately think I would be less well equipped to navigate life than I currently am.
Plus, some education in science at least gets the common person somewhat familiar with the highlights of human advancement in knowledge. That’s something.
I’m glad I don’t have to deal with a lot of it ever again, but, I definitely think something was gained by me having to at one point in time. Perhaps you agree, or perhaps you think I’m just a crazy traditionalist, and you’re just salty you never earned the prestigious title of “mathlete” back in grade school.
-Alex