The "Best" School Subject
May 5, 2014 Assumptions 4 comments dgamage14
When most teenagers are asked what their favorite subject is in school they usually respond with “Math,” “English,” or “Science.” A Gallup poll has shown that the most common reasons for picking a favorite subject involve what comes easiest to an individual or is the most fun. This logic works fairly well although it does not help determine what is the best subject. The best subject should be the one that is the most useful later in life. Which is the most useful though? Is it a course like Carpentry that teaches a technical skill or Economics that teaches business skills? I believe it is neither.
Although knowledge regarding buying a house, obtaining insurance, and planning for retirement are all great skills that are necessary there is no need for a full class teaching these skills. Some other well-liked classes that students are required to take include art, music, and history. Art and music are especially important for the cultural advancement of society, since they are responsible for almost all the great works of humanity. Everything from the Mona Lisa to the Taj Mahal was created due to art. Without history classes we would have never learned about any of the creators of these works as well. History allows us as humans to learn from our mistakes in the past and work to prevent them. Again, these subjects are important to human societies although in the life a normal person they mean virtually nothing. This prevents them from being the truly “greatest” subject.
Math and English are the two most used subjects in America, every single day. Without a common language we would literally not be able to communicate with each other. Speaking is one of the first things that newborns learn and reading comes soon afterwards. Writing follows reading and from that point on an individual continues to learn more about the English language, but really, what else do you need to know? Most people will not be in a life or death situation where they have to understand the hidden meaning of a poem, unless they are searching for a Shakespearean serial killer. Math is also used daily during purchases and directions while driving, although most of the time a person still only uses basic math skills like addition, multiplication, and division. Algebra and pre-calculus are hardly ever used outside of a school environment, meaning that math in high school is slightly less useful than in middle school. Science, on the other hand is extremely useful throughout a person’s life due to the fact that is applicable in any situation. It has many new discoveries every day and can be used as a great conversation starter. Whenever a person tries to understand how something works they use science. Say your car breaks down; what do you do? You make a hypothesis about why it is not running and you test it. If you fix it your problem is solved, if not, there is a different problem. This logical way of thinking is the main basis of science, not English or math, which is one of the main reasons that science is the best subject.
4 Comments
This is a very interesting article. I find it interesting that you believe a class such as Money Management is not essential. I do not disagree with you. I believe the information is important, but a class that takes up a whole semester is a bit excessive.
I very much liked this article. History is one of my favorite classes! So the fact that you shed a little light on the fact that history is very important to ” learn from our mistakes in the past and work to prevent them”. I think that to each person a class has some type of special meaning or use. I loved this article!
Writing essays, analyzing poetry, sin, cos, and tan; all are only used in school pretty much, unless its part of career. They really shouldn’t be considered the best subjects like they are. Science is my favorite subject because not only do I learn something new everyday about it, but it is information that is useful, and will continue to be useful. I took every science that was offered, and even though I didn’t need to, I did because what is wrong with knowing physiology and anatomy of your body? Or, how to stop a vehicle from sliding everywhere? People think putting weight in the back helps, but science really tell us it is the friction and the tires. About the money management class though, where else are we suppose to learn it all? It is essential, and should be included as a requirement.
This is quite interesting to read! I have to disagree though. If you ask me, there is no singular best subject. I could very well argue that math is applicable everywhere or that English is applicable everywhere. That doesn’t necessarily make it best. It just makes it universal. Instead, I think there is no subject better than another. I may be better at one subject than another, but my abilities and understandings cannot prove that a subject is best nor can its use in society make it superior. Of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinion.