The workers comp example was to show that even very hard decisions can have numbers assigned to them for comparisons sake if you ask the right questions. Thus

The workers comp example was to show that even very hard decisions can have numbers assigned to them for comparisons sake if you ask the right questions. Thus even if its hard to tell why goal setting is more valuable than calculating the volume of imaginary vases, it can be reasoned about. Specialization is power. What profitable skill could students be learning that wouldn't have tons of side value? Creating, fixing, doing nearly anything that was worth paying for would pull the right skills into their brains and push out the useless ones. If you need to learn to calculate the volume of a vase for an actual reason, with money on the line, you have a better chance of actually retaining the knowledge, and seeing the value in it. Autodidacts have a trick up their sleeve. Interest. Normal students can be interested as well, if they were learning things worth learning.