Reply to Jay Matthews: VMPI Probably Will Keep Tracking Just Because of Parent Pressure

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Reply to "Jay Matthews: VMPI Probably Will Keep Tracking Just Because of Parent Pressure"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

When do you "need" literature?  When do you "need" a foreign language?  I happen to think that a fully educated person should have some exposure to calculus.  Sure, you can take a research stats course that obscures the fundamental linkages to calculus.  Or you can take physics or chemistry without calculus.  But appreciating calculus would give you such a deeper understanding of the fields that make up modern technology.  And I believe that those that can, should.[/quote]

DP.  You need literature if you have any intention of being a well-rounded, cultured person.  You need foreign language if you have any desire to study and work in international relations or intelligence.  Has your kid taken five years of a foreign language?  No?  That’s a pity.  They are completely missing the chance to communicate fluently with non-English speakers.  Do they have any desire to live in a foreign country?  Good luck without knowing the language.

In short, not taking calculus does not adversely affect non-STEM majors in any way.  However, being ignorant of great literature or foreign languages just makes anyone... ignorant.[/quote]

I can easily claim that you need calculus if you have any intention of being a well-rounded, cultured person. You need  engineering classes if you have any desire to work in the technology sector. Have you taken 2 years of engineering classes? No? You're completely missing the chance to communicate fluently in technical topics. Does your kid want to be a website designer? Good luck without knowing how to code! In short, not taking lit does not adversely affect STEM majors in any way. But being ignorant of mathematics, science, logic, computation, and engineering just makes anyone... ignorant.

(Can you see how silly this argument sounds?)

There's always *something* that you'll miss out on if you don't take the courses, and there's plenty of content that you'll never use no matter what courses you take. I would personally agree with the PP, that calculus and other higher math contributes to a well-rounded education, and is more useful in building productive members of society than literature class is. (It's more useful to be able to think logically and computationally than to be able to quote shakespeare.) But we're all going to have our biases as to what is useful, and what is not. All the kids are probably going to have to take things that 'they'll never use again.' It's a bit silly to try and pretend that somehow humanities classes are 'useful' but STEM classes are not unless you're going into STEM. STEM classes, in general, are no less useful to humanities-leaning students than the humanities are to STEM leaning students.[/quote]

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