I suspect this exchange never happened, but at any rate: When the teacher justifies the subject not on its own merits, but for its alleged nootropic effects, t

I suspect this exchange never happened, but at any rate: When the teacher justifies the subject not on its own merits, but for its alleged nootropic effects, that's how you know it's either a waste of time or the teacher himself doesn't know what it's for. Same for "it builds critical thinking" -- another 100% reliable hallmark for a bunch of BS meant to waste young people's lives on classroom exercises and homework. 21st century version of digging holes in the desert to build character. Calculus is useful for hundreds of things; if the teacher has to resort to this dodge he ought to be ashamed of himself. What a waste of an opportunity to tell them about its applications in civil engineering, in control theory, in statistics, in orbital mechanics, in 3D graphics, etc etc. If I had heard what that teacher said it would have killed my interest stone dead. Just another hoop I have to jump through, for my own good. And this isn't to say that everything must be justified on utilitarian grounds -- Shakespeare is not "useful" for anything but we have it in schools because it's inherently worthwhile, it's part of what makes life worth living.