Your 5th grade teacher was wrong: you DO need to know this for when you get older.

So I do believe there are 'pointless subjects' in school. Some people will just never have a need to know certain things, and they would be better off learning other subjects. However, I do think there are a lot of 'pointless subjects' that are actually extremely useful, as long as you apply the skills you learn to your everyday life. <br><br>What really gets me is when people say things like "Why do I need to learn this? I'll never use it when I get older." So I decided to write a list of just a few examples of how 'pointless subjects' apply to a lot of different careers and parts of life. By 'pointless subjects', I am referring to things that people generally have trouble seeing the point of learning in school.<br><br>* Math: pretty straightforward. Although really specific things like sines/cosines/tahns, etc. I do agree are pretty pointless to learn unless you plan to go into a field that requires knowledge of them. However, you will still need to know how to do things like algebra. <br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>* Algebra: If you get into management, you'll have to read financial reports. This inevitably includes bar graphs, and algebra is necessary for understanding how to make those.<br><br>* Calculus, statistics, and geometry: engineering and psychology.<br><br>* Philosophy: This one might seem pretty weird, but stick with me for a second. Philosophy is basically just learning all the different ways to think. Even if you don't realize it, you are asking yourself "what is the meaning of life?" "What do I think about ____________?" "Is this right or wrong?" "How should I approach problems?" basically all the time. If you know different methods of thinking, you can adapt your thinking to whatever situation is at hand. Within philosophy, there are many, many different ways of thinking assigned to various people; If you know of these different methods, you can adapt your thinking in a variety of different ways. For example, Hobbes says that humans are inherently naturally self-interested. If you're trying to figure out why someone is being selfish, you can look at Hobbes' method of thinking to help you figure it out. <br><br>* Biology/chemistry: essentially any medical field ever. You don't need to know specifics like Mitochondria, but you will need to know things like how cells work and atomic numbers.<br><br>* History: Understanding the past is key to understanding why people think the way they do. This is important in basically any career. <br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>* Psychology: same idea as history. If you know how people's minds work, you can more easily manipulate people (not in a bad way). For example, if you have a friend who is constantly making jokes, you know they probably use humor as a defense mechanism and you will be able to handle it appropriately. <br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>* English: If you can't communicate effectively with others, you're pretty much fucked.