2 ms·

> Why did I, as a programmer, have to learn history, geograghy, foreign languages, music, chemistry, biology, etc etc. Because the education system is broken.

by Animus7 15y ago

> Why did I, as a programmer, have to learn history, geograghy, foreign languages, music, chemistry, biology, etc etc. Because the education system is broken. Many subjects we teach in schools today are there only because they classically established your social status as a proper lady or gentleman -- not necessarily because they are of any practical use to the modern public. For example, see Harvard's entrance exam from back in the day: http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/education/harvardexam.pdf http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/education/harvarde... That's not to say that (for example) music theory doesn't have a place in today's society, but is it so absolutely critical to the functioning of productive citizens that we should require everyone to learn it, and subsequently forget it? This isn't why the education system is broken, but it's a symptom.

dkersten 15y ago
Here's the thing though: I do feel that it is beneficial for everyone to get a taught the fundamentals of all of these subjects because: - It helps you better understand the world around you. - A lot of knowledge can (and often should) be applied outside of their obvious areas - It helps us appreciate and/or understand other people in jobs very different from our own - It helps young people decide what they enjoy or are good at - It provides a base that can be expanded on in the future if the person ever needs or wants to - It helps us communicate between disciplines as - Probably more that I can't think of offhand "and subsequently forget it" Sure. This happens a lot, but you forget a different subset of what you learned than what I forget. I also find I can relearn things that I learned in school a lot easier than I learn completely new things. I also wouldn't have known what to forget and what to spend time remembering and improving if I hadn't learnt it in the first place. Finally, I found out that I either enjoyed some of these things that I otherwise never would have been exposed to, nevermind how much of these things seemed useless at the time (and so I would have opted not to learn them, given a choice) but have since turned out to be extremely useful or even critical. Note that I am not arguing that the education system isn't broken (I think it is), but that learning a large variety of subjects isn't necessarily bad or even a symptom of the broken education system. I think that any reasonably education system would expose students to a large variety of subjects before focusing on specifics.

by Animus7 15y ago

dkersten 15y ago

Here's the thing though: I do feel that it is beneficial for everyone to get a taught the fundamentals of all of these subjects because: - It helps you better understand the world around you. - A lot of knowledge can (and often should) be applied outside of their obvious areas - It helps us appreciate and/or understand other people in jobs very different from our own - It helps young people decide what they enjoy or are good at - It provides a base that can be expanded on in the future if the person ever needs or wants to - It helps us communicate between disciplines as - Probably more that I can't think of offhand "and subsequently forget it" Sure. This happens a lot, but you forget a different subset of what you learned than what I forget. I also find I can relearn things that I learned in school a lot easier than I learn completely new things. I also wouldn't have known what to forget and what to spend time remembering and improving if I hadn't learnt it in the first place. Finally, I found out that I either enjoyed some of these things that I otherwise never would have been exposed to, nevermind how much of these things seemed useless at the time (and so I would have opted not to learn them, given a choice) but have since turned out to be extremely useful or even critical. Note that I am not arguing that the education system isn't broken (I think it is), but that learning a large variety of subjects isn't necessarily bad or even a symptom of the broken education system. I think that any reasonably education system would expose students to a large variety of subjects before focusing on specifics.