Perhaps you read or have read the comic strip DILBERT by Scott Adams. Mr. Adams is too clever, and recently I read an article he published in the WSJ about some of the courses he was required to take in college. He argues for most ‘average’ students, there is little need to take courses such as, for example, Classical Greek, Calculus and Art History when there are many other practical courses that would better prepare the ‘average’ student for life outside the classroom.
I will admit that for a few as he calls them “brainy” students, maybe these are courses that will prepare them for their calling in life, but he suggests that the roster is limited.
I had the standard courses in school, some (typing) more useful than others, I rank most of my math courses as generally, well, useless is the word I am thinking of right now. After the basic computational functions (addition and such) and multiplication tables which I learned in grammar school plus a few applicable formulae, I can’t see that my life was intellectually enriched from a practical point of view.
I have never, never knowingly found any use for algebra and certainly trigonometry but that is not to say that these courses are not useful but not to the general population. I can see those in technical fields perhaps making use of these frequently, but I never reached that level. I just wanted to pass the course.
There were high school courses that appealed to me and for which I owe a debt of gratitude. While I was never a fan of my eighth grade English teacher; still she did set a high standard that caused me to appreciate the finer points of English grammar. Her message is still obvious to me even as I write these sentences.
So what courses would I in retrospect have benefited? Well since I live alone, many of the so called domestic arts would have been helpful. It does not take much insight to use a microwave to defrost a TV dinner. Too, practical, basic instructions in small engine repair, carpentry, and plumbing and not to mention anything electrical would surely have enhanced my bank account.
A favorite joke is the medical doctor who employed a plumber to fix his pump and when he received his bill, he complained that he, a doctor, did not even charge such hourly rates. To which the plumber replied, “That’s the very reason I gave up my medical practice.”
These observations are subject to a challenge but probably mostly from math teachers.
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Bill Lee
PO Box 128
Hamer, SC
