On Fri, 27 Jul 2012, Russell Coker wrote:
One massive problem is that the curriculum isn't much good. English is the best example of this failure as it's mostly about essay writing when most people never write a fictional essay in their entire adult life. Calculus is often cited as a subject that's supposedly useless in adult life, but really it doesn't compare to writing fiction.
I don't get that one. I am not sure whether I ever needed differential and integral calculus at work. I don't need the periodic table taught in chemistry either. At my work place it doesn't matter if I believe the Earth is flat. I don't believe that the next generations will get their knowledge from short tweets. You still need something that captures your imagination for more than 30 seconds. And whether it is in a written form, as an essay, a book etc, or visual, e.g. a movie, you need more than just presenting facts. You need a story line and skills to grab the reader's/viewer's attention. That's why Powerpoint presentations are such a bore. Many people think: three circles, five arrows and some labels are telling a story. They don't. If someone draws a little graphic as he speaks, it becomes more interesting because it accompanies the story. Writing essays is about telling a story. And that's a very useful skill. Regards Peter