If I could go back in time, I'd make myself actually study this stuff in high school and college. I'm pretty smart and taking tests I look at it and am like "I know what I need to do...but I can't remember how to anymore"
This true though. They teach alot of different stuff like algebra, chemistry, history, English, and so on incase SOMEONE in the class is inspired by it to become someone who needs to know that stuff.
And sadly alot of the other kids have to suffer through learning math you will never need, what each element's number is, the fall of the Roman empire, and the meaning behind Shakespeare's play Tamming of a shrew.
not only does everyone have to suffer through it for a few kids that might use it later, they also teach it to the lowest common denominator so the kids that might actually use it dont get taught it to the way they need to have it taught
That is because they are being given only a taste of what it is like to see if they want to pursue it into a career. This way you dont learn how to be a rocket scientist but become a fry cook.
You do use this stuff in all sorts of ways from finding good deals to doing taxes and interpreting things. Other subjects that may seem pointless help our understanding of the world as a whole and help us to conduct conversations with people outside of our learned and embedded culture.
Unless one plans on engineering or physics as a career, basic arithmetic, statistics and data analysis would be far more useful for the average high school kid in the long run.
And sadly alot of the other kids have to suffer through learning math you will never need, what each element's number is, the fall of the Roman empire, and the meaning behind Shakespeare's play Tamming of a shrew.