# What is the singlemost useless thing you learned in school? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 7, 2022, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-singlemost-useless-thing-you-learned-in-school/962434 "2022-04-07T02:31:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-singlemost-useless-thing-you-learned-in-school/962434/201 "2022-04-09T11:45:23Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Hence my question: how long should it be, for that subject, before we let a student decide to leave it there and get something else entirely? I’m not sure where you reside—I’m in the US. AIUI other countries approach this differently. For example, [Germany](https://www.german-way.com/history-and-culture/education/the-german-school-system/): > Compared to the United States, the German primary and secondary school system is a rather complicated one in which there are sometimes as many as five different kinds of secondary schools (usually starting at grade 5) and various paths leading to academic higher education, advanced technical training or a trade. I gather these other countries look at whether the student has the ability and desire to go to college—or whether some trade, like being a mechanic or hairdresser is more up their alley, so to speak. I think American schools have changed some, adding “magnet schools” or other alternatives, but we’re behind. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-singlemost-useless-thing-you-learned-in-school/962434/202 "2022-04-09T11:49:22Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > I’m not sure where you reside—I’m in the US. Like you, I’m in the US: I spent years studying French at a US high school, and then kept on studying French at a US college, and also spent time learning things that were useful. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-singlemost-useless-thing-you-learned-in-school/962434/203 "2022-04-09T12:38:16Z")
As long as we’re taking math questions: what about all the equations one can graph that technically aren’t functions because there isn’t a unique y-value for a given x-value? ETA: should we have a dedicated math thread somewhere? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-singlemost-useless-thing-you-learned-in-school/962434/204 "2022-04-09T12:43:08Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > And how many of us (at our own initiative), memorized Jabberwocky? And still can recite it? Hey, that’s a highly useful skill. I can also recite all of “The Cremation of Sam McGee”. “Since I left Plumtree, down in Tennessee it’s the first time I’ve been warm.” \*also: One hen two ducks three squawking geese etc. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-singlemost-useless-thing-you-learned-in-school/962434/205 "2022-04-09T13:13:44Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > should we have a dedicated math thread somewhere? Sounds like a good idea. > [@Useless math concepts you were forced to learn](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/useless-math-concepts-you-were-forced-to-learn/962578): > > Over in this thread a lot of people seemed to gravitate toward math they were forced to learn. I loved math and learned things that seemed pretty useful—the Pythagorean theorem, for instance. When people say, “Why should I learn math?” I sometimes reply, “Remember all those word problems?” IMO that’s is how you could use it. But not all things are obvious or immediately useful to the average person. Got any gripes? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-singlemost-useless-thing-you-learned-in-school/962434/206 "2022-04-09T13:17:48Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school, it’s a wonder I can think at all. And though my lack of education hasn’t hurt me none, I can read the writing on the wall You. In the corner. NOW! ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-singlemost-useless-thing-you-learned-in-school/962434/207 "2022-04-09T14:09:32Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > should we have a dedicated math thread somewhere? Sounds great ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-singlemost-useless-thing-you-learned-in-school/962434/208 "2022-04-09T15:01:20Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And someone’s mention of guest speakers dislodged a memory: In middle school, we had an assembly with a black supremacist activist who claimed that Jesus was black. His evidence? A passage from the Gospels that described his hair as being “like wool”. Even at the time, I knew that was nonsense, because despite me being white, I had hair woolier than any of my black classmates. Later, I learned that he wasn’t even quoting the passage accurately, but left off a word: Jesus’s hair was described as being white like wool. Wait, do you mean to say he’s white? it’s common knowledge that He was not Caucasian but a person of color. You must be thinking of how he appeared in someone’s post resurrection vision. Black people get white hair too call it gray. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-singlemost-useless-thing-you-learned-in-school/962434/209 "2022-04-09T15:10:20Z")
Four corpulent porpoises… ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-singlemost-useless-thing-you-learned-in-school/962434/210 "2022-04-09T15:12:54Z")
> [@chela](#): > > Wait, do you mean to say he’s white? No, he is saying that ‘wooly hair’ isn’t necessarily an ethnic/racial-defining characteristic. He used his own (white) example to highlight how his younger self thought through this question. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-singlemost-useless-thing-you-learned-in-school/962434/211 "2022-04-09T15:30:56Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Reminds me of a lecture on Von Danniken that we had. For history class! In grade 9 English we had a section on satire and we had, as an assignment, to write a satire. For some reason, that was shortly after I had become skeptical about a lot of things, whereas a couple of years ago I used to believe all that stuff. Anyway, for my assignment I wrote a satire of “Chariots” and got 100% on it. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-singlemost-useless-thing-you-learned-in-school/962434/212 "2022-04-09T15:35:19Z")
Not exactly useless, but a bit misguided - high school French in Ottawa, which is right next door to Quebec. They taught us “le francais international” and not Quebecois French. When all that ended I joined the military and had gov’t-provided French classes, had Francophone room-mates and colleagues and learned all sorts of things that they never taught in high school. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-singlemost-useless-thing-you-learned-in-school/962434/213 "2022-04-09T15:44:07Z")
This is sort of a “meta” topic. But I detested teachers who lied to us about how essential their subject was. My brother had a 10th grade biology teacher who claimed that he would be required to take several years of biology in college no matter what he majored in. (He was considering majoring in journalism or music, eventually choosing the latter). I assume this was meant to motivate him to do well in 10th grade biology, which would make her look marginally better. What astounds me is that a teacher would lie about something so easy to disprove by simply asking a guidance counselor, or pretty much anyone who’d gone to college. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-singlemost-useless-thing-you-learned-in-school/962434/214 "2022-04-09T16:33:31Z")
The actual Biblical passage is describing Jesus as he appears transfigured: He doesn’t look human, but is instead all glowy and glorious. So it’s not really a good guide to his mundane appearance, anyway. But if one does insist on using it for a guide to how he normally looked, surely a passage describing how white he was is a terrible argument for saying that he was black. Of course, in all probability, he wasn’t what Americans would call “white” or “black”, since he was Middle Eastern. But details like that don’t matter to self-important activists with an axe to grind. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-singlemost-useless-thing-you-learned-in-school/962434/215 "2022-04-09T17:30:04Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The actual Biblical passage is describing Jesus as he appears transfigured: He doesn’t look human, but is instead all glowy and glorious. Yes, in those pre-electric lighting days the brightest that the author of Mark could describe Jesus’s robes was “And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them”. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-singlemost-useless-thing-you-learned-in-school/962434/216 "2022-04-09T18:35:37Z")
Well, somebody had to do it. 🕶 ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-singlemost-useless-thing-you-learned-in-school/962434/217 "2022-04-09T18:56:49Z")
I had a similar experience. While I do not think it wrong to focus on international French, they could have mentioned variations in French around the world, or that these _existed_. They should have taught a little Quebecois or Acadian French. They could have explained about different registers of French and joual and compared these to English slang. I took ten years of French before college, got nearly perfect marks. They emphasized grammar so much, and spontaneous talking so little! Still had to take a couple years of university French to understand life in Montreal and how spoken French skips half the letters. Not made it to Lac St. Jean, but doubt I could glean much. I hope they have improved things rather than appealing to class, education and occasional snobbery. Yet I know many Quebec academics who feel the same way as my French teachers did - _why would you even teach that?_ ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-singlemost-useless-thing-you-learned-in-school/962434/218 "2022-04-09T19:02:25Z")
I had an English teacher tell me I should major in English and be a literary critic. We studied a few plays and I leaned heavily on some Harold Bloom or similar person I had read. My own natural understanding was okay, nothing special. It was nicely meant. But although I enjoyed English it would have been pretty bad advice. Every teacher wants you to follow in their footsteps. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-singlemost-useless-thing-you-learned-in-school/962434/219 "2022-04-09T21:44:43Z")
A tie between algebra and shorthand. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-singlemost-useless-thing-you-learned-in-school/962434/220 "2022-04-10T00:27:34Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > in 7th grade when my English teacher was teaching the parts of speech and came to prepositions, decided that rather than teach the functional definition of what a preposition was and how it was used, that the class should simply memorize a list of 50 prepositions. About, above, across, against, along, among, around, at, before, behind, below, beside, between, beyond, but, by, down, during, except, for, from, in, into, like, near, of, off, on, over, since, through, till, to, toward, under, until, up, upon, with. To test whether a word is a preposition, insert it into the sentence “The mouse ran \_\_\_ the hole.” Half a century later, and I still remember that stuff even though I’m starting to have those “senior moments” such as the one yesterday when I got up from the table to get some napkins, then opened the pantry door only to forget why I was there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-singlemost-useless-thing-you-learned-in-school/962434.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-singlemost-useless-thing-you-learned-in-school/962434.md?page=12)