You know, I studied math in school for the same reason. When I was in middle school taking geometry, I blurted out to my teacher, pft, I will never use this cra

You know, I studied math in school for the same reason. When I was in middle school taking geometry, I blurted out to my teacher, pft, I will never use this crap anyway. She pulled me aside and said, no, not this specifically, but as you grow it will help you develop your mind and your critical thinking. I took it to heart, and years later I am a math major. I'm not especially bright. But I majored in math because I've always felt like the benefits of a math major are beyond the obvious. Like you stated, it gives you a framework for problem solving. More importantly, it forces you to reason your way through long solutions. It forces you to approach problems from different angles and also, in my opinion, increases the size of your buffer (?). In other words, you hold a lot of info in your head as you work through problems and that helps too. It stretches your brain. Thinking critically, like anything, is just another skill. What better way to get at it than using it everyday for 4 years? No, I've never used my math background to balance my checkbook. Hell, even as an analyst now I use my ppt skills more than anything putting decks together for clients. Getting through the math dept at my school was a bitch. I have very little natural talent. Even then, I wouldn't have it any other way.