"J. Clarke" wrote:

Douglas Johnson wrote:
"J. Clarke" wrote:

The schools are a miserable experience that produce mediocre
results. The argument that they are better than nothing doesn't
wash. What did you personally learn in the public schools school
other than to read and write and do sums that was of any real value
in later life?

Driver's Ed.

Really worthless. Learned more from my Dad in an hour than in a whole
semester of that crap.

If my Dad had tried to teach me to drive, one of us would have been in the
hospital, the other in jail. Not that I didn't learn a lot from him, just more
by example than instruction. Besides, in my state you could get your license
two years earlier with Driver's Ed. It was also good for an insurance discount
into my 20's.


History and Government.

What did you learn about history and government that was (a) useful
and (b) true? I'm _still_ unlearning that crap.

A history teacher gave me a love of history. Maybe half my recreational reading
is history. As for government, understanding of the structure and powers of the
Federal government is useful almost every day.


Chemistry and Physics.

When have you actually used it?

It lets you call "bull****" on someone or something that claims to violate basic
principles.

Geometry, Trig, and Intro to Calculus.

Lucky you with the intro to calculus. I've never found mathematical
proofs to be particularly useful.

I have a patent which has a formal proof as a key component.

-- Doug