The Myth of the “Useless Subjects”

A short reflection on the myth that school subjects are “useless.” We may forget equations and dates, but the habits of thinking they build shape every decision we make as adults.

Every now and then, someone proudly announces, “Why were we taught algebra? Why were we taught history? Why did we need poetry? Useless stuff, never used any of it in my entire life.”

And once again, the internet claps like trained seals. These individuals are usually from industries like arts, philosophy, poetry, politics, etc. It’s almost fashionable now to trash the education system as if it’s some ancient relic created to personally inconvenience adults. But this argument has a giant logical fallacy. It assumes that the only valid education is the kind we can directly plug into our bank accounts or grocery lists. Reality is a lot messier.

We treat schools like a shopping list. “Does this help me file taxes?” “No.” “Useless!”

But education is not a crash course on adult survival hacks. It’s the long-term construction of your mind. The contents like algebra, history, literature, and geometry are simply scaffolding. The actual building is your ability to think, argue, question, analyze, imagine, and act with awareness. You might forget the details, but the muscle stays. In life, at various junctures, we have to make decisions where there is no clear right or wrong. We will face situations where we feel confused about the future. Well-read people, who have received quality education, tend to have a higher chance of making the best possible decision, even if the subject concerned is not their forte.

Take history, for example. It teaches you patterns. It teaches you that humans love repeating the same stupid mistakes in new costumes. It teaches you to identify propaganda, racism, bad politics, and social decay before they explode. If we don’t learn history, we’re basically toddlers with credit cards. Emotionally loud, factually clueless, and surprisingly easy to manipulate.

Similarly, algebra teaches structure and logic. It strengthens the part of your brain that handles decisions involving multiple variables. Literature teaches empathy, perspective, the ability to express thoughts, and the skill of interpreting other people’s words. That, by the way, is pretty important if you don’t want to be fooled by WhatsApp forwards and self-proclaimed “wellness” gurus.

Does this mean our education system is free from flaws? Definitely not. It can be refined. We absolutely need basic financial literacy, civic sense, basic law, duties as citizens, awareness about digital safety and misinformation, and practical life skills included in our curriculum. These are not luxuries. They’re necessities.

But here’s the important bit. Asking for improvements is not the same as declaring the whole system a failure.

We judge the education system by what is missing but ignore the vast foundation it has already built for us. Most adults underestimate how much of their reasoning, scepticism, creativity, and judgement comes from subjects they think were “useless.” People who say “I never used history” are often the same people who fall for revisionist propaganda. In case people still remember, the second COVID wave hit us hard because we loosened our guard after the first wave. We forgot that in the Spanish Flu of 1918, the second wave caused the maximum damage. People who say “I never used algebra” are often the same people who get tricked by shady loans and WhatsApp miracle-cure forwards.

The “education is useless” argument survives because it’s a convenient hoax. It gives people an excuse to blame school for everything they don’t understand as adults. Is the system perfect? No, and we need an upgrade. Should we throw the entire thing into a dustbin because someone couldn’t expand (A+B)²? Not even close.

Education is not bad. Our understanding of education is. The foundation is there; all we need is better furnishing, smarter designs, and modern utilities.

Blaming the whole house because the wiring needs an upgrade? That’s not wisdom. That’s just lazy outrage dressed up as insight.