# What were the most useless skills you were taught in school?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-useless-skills-you-were-taught-in-school/1030648
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [June 5, 2026, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-useless-skills-you-were-taught-in-school/1030648 "2026-06-05T19:11:43Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 8
### Author:  [@allenv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/allenv)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2026, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-useless-skills-you-were-taught-in-school/1030648/141 "2026-06-07T01:21:14Z")
I used a slide rule for high school chemistry, then used a calculator in college and professional life. As an engineer I used calculators and computers, but a kept a slide rule on my desk, I only to mess with people. Now I collect them.
---
### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2026, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-useless-skills-you-were-taught-in-school/1030648/142 "2026-06-07T01:22:28Z")
> [@DSeid](#):
>
> Huh. I learned about geology and astronomy in school as well as cursive… you didn’t?
My high school offered some things as electives, and some as requirements.
Cursive was a requirement; chemistry and physics and biology were requirements; geology, like theater and metal shop and calculus and Latin, was optional.
---
### Author:  [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2026, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-useless-skills-you-were-taught-in-school/1030648/143 "2026-06-07T01:24:15Z")
> [@Spiderman](#):
>
> & try as I might finger signing on a pad doesn’t look _anything_ like what I write with a pen.
Oh my lord, yes. When those first appeared I tried to replicate my signature. Absolutely impossible. I still sorta sign my name, but it just comes out as a snowflake unique different unrecognizable squiggle every time. Nobody comparing those to my written signature are going to recognize them the same, ever.
---
### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2026, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-useless-skills-you-were-taught-in-school/1030648/144 "2026-06-07T01:31:42Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#):
>
> And also, American cookbooks need to ditch this volume shit and express recipe ingredients by weight, in the metric system.
You sound like a shill for Big Kitchen Scale.
When my brother talked me into joining the Navy and getting into nuclear power school, one of the incentives he mentioned was that they’d teach me how to use a slide rule. He was misinformed (or misleading me, but he didn’t become a recruiter until a few years later).
---
### Author:  [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2026, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-useless-skills-you-were-taught-in-school/1030648/145 "2026-06-07T01:32:10Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#):
>
> My high school offered some things as electives, and some as requirements.
>
> Cursive was a requirement
Are you saying you had cursive instruction in High School? Or are you just comparing HS electives with grade school requirements? I first learned cursive in third grade, as the follow on from printing. Also there was no Latin or geology to be found in my High School, I would have loved to have taken geology. I’d also rather have been smote dead than have been forced to take Latin, as used to be the case. I know it’s still arguably useful as an intro to Western latinate languages, but I sucked at “foreign” languages generally.
---
### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2026, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-useless-skills-you-were-taught-in-school/1030648/146 "2026-06-07T01:45:20Z")
I sign all the touchscreen things with an X. Whether with fingertip or stylus. Works great. Try it; you’ll like it. 😁
---
### Author:  [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2026, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-useless-skills-you-were-taught-in-school/1030648/147 "2026-06-07T01:51:23Z")
I’m behind the times; I still sign things “Twitter”.
---
### Author:  [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2026, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-useless-skills-you-were-taught-in-school/1030648/148 "2026-06-07T02:01:59Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#):
>
> Are you saying you had cursive instruction in High School?
That was my reaction. Cursive in High School? I was thinking all of that list in primary school.
---
### Author:  [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2026, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-useless-skills-you-were-taught-in-school/1030648/149 "2026-06-07T02:25:45Z")
Another vote for “cursive and sentence diagrams”. Even as a kid it struck me as really wasteful to be teaching sentence diagrams when it was obvious that much of the class could barely even read at all. And cursive was worse than useless for anything other than writing a signature, there’s no point in writing things down in near-unreadable script. Printing is slower but at least I can read it afterwards.
The various stuff I learned to do in metal shop was useless in the practical sense, but I enjoyed it and that’s a useful thing in its own way.
---
### Author:  [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2026, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-useless-skills-you-were-taught-in-school/1030648/150 "2026-06-07T02:28:46Z")
Macrame. Never have I used it since 5th grade art class.
Square roots, though I admit I had problems with them. Math is not my strong point. Never got beyond geometry, and I have never had to find the volume of anything.
---
### Author:  [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2026, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-useless-skills-you-were-taught-in-school/1030648/151 "2026-06-07T02:42:07Z")
> [@Disinfectus](#):
>
> Metal shop helped me learn how to make a money clip. I gave to my dad. Even polished it myself. About five years later, I found it in the back of a drawer. I understood. It was ugly as hell. I’m positive that I haven’t made a single thing from metal since, nor really wanted to.
I can understand your disappointment finding the gift in the back of a drawer but many handmade childhood gifts fall into that category. But if you referred to an actual metal shop class, that entails learning to use a metal lathe, milling machine, casting forge and other tools. Standard classes have a student make a tool box that consists of a brake bender, cutting tools, riveting tools and spot welders. Like all classes, it’s a learning experience that should steer a student into other learning opportunities if they desire.
My final project in metals shop was a foot long knife. I had to get permission to make it. It went beyond the generic projects students were tasked with and I think that was the point.
The mechanical drawing class I took was useful when I wanted to modify and expand my garage many years later. It ended up being a complete rebuild. I had to provide the city with scaled drawings of the project. The drafting tools I bought (used) from school turned out to be useful.
---
### Author:  [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2026, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-useless-skills-you-were-taught-in-school/1030648/152 "2026-06-07T02:45:34Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#):
>
> The use of the word dative derives from an attempt to impose the grammar of Latin on English, where it doesn’t fit. In the first sentence, Bill is the object of a preposition, while in the second it is one of the two complements (objects) of the verb give.
It does not fit in what sense? It is true that Ælfric drew an analogy with Latin (“dativus is forġiefendlīċ”), but how is referring to the English case of the indirect object as “dative” misleading? The case in question can occur in the object of a preposition in Old English, as can various other cases.
Are German students confused when the “Wem-Fall” is referred to as “Dativ”?
---
### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2026, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-useless-skills-you-were-taught-in-school/1030648/153 "2026-06-07T03:05:32Z")
See, I would have assumed required cursive would mean that he had to write in cursive. That was true of one of my schools, too, to the point I never considered writing in print until college.
---
### Author:  [@Disinfectus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disinfectus)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2026, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-useless-skills-you-were-taught-in-school/1030648/154 "2026-06-07T03:31:38Z")
> [@Magiver](#):
>
> But if you referred to an actual metal shop class, that entails learning to use a metal lathe, milling machine, casting forge and other tools. Standard classes have a student make a tool box that consists of a brake bender, cutting tools, riveting tools and spot welders. Like all classes, it’s a learning experience that should steer a student into other learning opportunities if they desire.
This was in Junior High School. We didn’t have most of the equipment you mentioned.
And as someone else has mentioned, the OP was not clear as to whether they were asking about a skill that was useless to someone personally; or if, rather, they meant useless to all of us.
And I really wasn’t that disappointed. I didn’t give it to him under the impression that he would love it. I gave it to him because at 12 years old, I had absolutely no use for a money clip and didn’t know what else to do with it.
---
### Author:  [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2026, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-useless-skills-you-were-taught-in-school/1030648/155 "2026-06-07T04:17:21Z")
> [@wolfpup](#):
>
> May I present to you as Exhibit “A” a US dollar bill, signed by the Treasurer of the United States and by the Secretary of the Treasury. Both signatures in cursive, and perfectly legible. Lynn and Janet apparently learned cursive in school!
Fast moving thread! But back to signatures on US paper money, look at Steven Mnuchin’s signature. He got called out for printing his signature instead of using cursive.
> **[BEP reveals Series 2017 $1 note, new signature](https://www.coinworld.com/news/paper-money/bep-reveals-series-2017-1-dollar-note-new-signature.html)**
>
> Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin printed his signature rather than writing it in cursive.
---
### Author:  [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2026, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-useless-skills-you-were-taught-in-school/1030648/156 "2026-06-07T04:49:18Z")
Heh heh
---
### Author:  [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2026, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-useless-skills-you-were-taught-in-school/1030648/157 "2026-06-07T05:06:37Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> Personally, I think that lawyers should be required to take at least one programming class, just because it’s such a great example of clear, unambiguous language. Granted, the law covers a much broader subject area, so that level of clarity is much harder and sometimes impossible, but it’s still a goal to aim for.
I’ve often thought that there’s a close correlation between computer languages and the instructions that air traffic controllers give to pilots. They both use a subset of English words to communicate a clear, unambiguous course of action.
---
### Author:  [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2026, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-useless-skills-you-were-taught-in-school/1030648/158 "2026-06-07T05:24:10Z")
Anyone remember the Koeppen system?
> **[Köppen climate classification](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%B6ppen_climate_classification)**
>
> The Köppen climate classification divides Earth's climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are A (tropical), B (arid), C (temperate), D (continental), and E (polar). Each group and subgroup is represented by a letter. All climates are assigned a main group (the first letter). All climates except for those in the E group are assigned a seasonal precipitation subgroup (the second letter)...
ironically they taught it to us in social studies class and not earth science
(By the same teacher who explained to us the physical differences between the races)
---
### Author:  [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2026, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-useless-skills-you-were-taught-in-school/1030648/159 "2026-06-07T07:10:59Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#):
>
> > [@wolfpup](#):
> >
> > Lynn and Janet apparently learned cursive in school!
>
> Of course they did - they’re respectively 72 and 79 years old 😀! When approximately my generation is gone, so will be cursive. None of my now young adult nieces or nephews have any knowledge of it. At all.
Well, my young adult niece is a lawyer, and her cursive signature is an important part of her professional identity. Maybe I inhabit a different world than the rest of you, but I have yet to see a signature that isn’t cursive.
> [@JohnGalt](#):
>
> But back to signatures on US paper money, look at Steven Mnuchin’s signature. He got called out for printing his signature instead of using cursive.
According to Mnuchin’s own statement about that, because the “signature” would be there forever, he wanted something “clean” and readable. IOW, it sounds like this isn’t his actual signature that he would use to sign cheques or legal documents, but was motivated by egotism so everybody could see his name. I’m sure that there exists someone, somewhere, who actually prints their signature, but I’ve never seen it.
ETA: Yep, his original signature was an illegible scrawl ..
> **[Mnuchin polishes up his signature before it appears on U.S. currency | CNN...](https://www.cnn.com/2017/01/11/news/mnuchin-new-signature)**
>
> Treasury Secretary nominee Steven Mnuchin improves his signature that will soon be on your currency.
---
### Author:  [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2026, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-useless-skills-you-were-taught-in-school/1030648/160 "2026-06-07T07:14:51Z")
> [@wolfpup](#):
>
> Maybe I inhabit a different world than the rest of you, but I have yet to see a signature that isn’t cursive.
Ahem.
> [@wolfpup](#):
>
> My doctor’s official authorized signature on my prescriptions is a little swirl.
🙂
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-useless-skills-you-were-taught-in-school/1030648.md?page=7)
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-most-useless-skills-you-were-taught-in-school/1030648.md?page=9)