Is high School science knowledge any use for the average layman?

[mad_scientist]

Is high School science knowledge a waste of space for the layman?

 

If you are not in a science related profession, is there any use in having basic science knowledge from highschool?

[KipIngram]

I would say that basic physics is particularly useful (I'm referring mostly to the mechanical aspects of physics). I could see that knowledge, and even more so the math you learn in high school, which gets "practiced" in physics, useful to all kinds of tradespeople who build things and so on. High school physics gives you a "basic understanding of how the world works," and that is potentially valuable.

 

I think it's all worthwhile, but I grant you that other topics (say, chemistry) might wind up never used by a lot of people.

[studiot]

Is high School science knowledge a waste of space for the layman?

 

If you are not in a science related profession, is there any use in having basic science knowledge from highschool?

 

Of course there is.

 

I can (just about) play a game of badminton (with a little help from my friends)

 

But I couldn't name one badminton star, tell you the height of the net or the size of the court or most of the rules.

 

High school science is better than that.

 

It allows you to participate in technical discussion and appreciate what is going on (with a little help from your friends)

 

[Phi for All]

Absolutely it's of use. The fist steps of critical reasoning aren't found anywhere else in high school.

 

And I can tell you from my experience here, the majority of the crackpots who post wildly uninformed ideas about science all thought high school was a waste/too hard at the time. Now they're intrigued by pop-sci articles they don't understand, or they find many aspects of science in their daily lives, and it's obvious they regret not learning it in school.

[studiot]

 

The fist steps of critical reasoning aren't found anywhere else in high school.

 

Have you ever taken an A level English Literature paper?

 

The rest of post#4 is good.

Edited June 5, 2017 by studiot

[zapatos]

Is high School science knowledge a waste of space for the layman?

 

If you are not in a science related profession, is there any use in having basic science knowledge from highschool?

Well, it can keep you from treading on thin ice, or mixing bleach and ammonia while cleaning the house.

[KipIngram]

Well, it can keep you from treading on thin ice, or mixing bleach and ammonia while cleaning the house.

 

Ah, yeah - bleach and ammonia - good one!

[fiveworlds]

I think it's all worthwhile, but I grant you that other topics (say, chemistry) might wind up never used by a lot of people.

 

Chemistry is useful for a lot of things like cooking, how an internal combustion engine works, how much chlorine to put in a pool, testing if the tap water is drinkable, how much medication you should take and when etc. There is definitely uses for basic chemistry knowledge some of it I think everybody should know.

Edited June 5, 2017 by fiveworlds

[KipIngram]

I agree - I'm all for a sound basic knowledge in all the areas covered in high school. Several of the things you mentioned, though, come with instructions on the package, so I think one could function without having the knowledge. Please don't take me as implying it's not good knowledge to have, though - that's not the case at all.

[StringJunky]

I use chemistry all the time when wondering how best to clean things or what to buy to get something done and determine .the relative safety of various products. Above all though, I think basic science wises you up to pseudoscientific infomercials that you get bombarded with all the time.

[KipIngram]

I use chemistry all the time when wondering how best to clean things or what to buy to get something done and determine .the relative safety of various products. Above all though, I think basic science wises you up to pseudoscientific infomercials that you get bombarded with all the time.

 

Amen to that last part. I'm astounded by the degree of pseudoscience manipulation that gets attempted, and even more astounded by the extent to which it's successful.

[Fuzzwood]

Anything to get the number of organicnaturaldetoxingglutenalkalinediet-****tards down.

[StringJunky]

 

Amen to that last part. I'm astounded by the degree of pseudoscience manipulation that gets attempted, and even more astounded by the extent to which it's successful.

 

 

Anything to get the number of organicnaturaldetoxingglutenalkalinediet-****tards down.

 

Baffling-with science is a very successful commercial strategy. I don't know about the US, but the hair products here are the ones thar amuse/bemuse me the most since they purport to 'revitalise deep down' something that's dead. Or saying that X's headache preparation is better than anyone elses when the active ingredients are exactly the same.

[Manticore]

Never understood how anyone can survive in the modern world at all without a basic knowledge of physics.

[Rasher Null]

The "scientific principle" is very short and learnable. Add in the importance of critical thinking and you have the most important aspects of scientific education for the layman; something incredibly important and useful that can be written on a postcard and does not need a curriculum of subjects.

 

As for scientific knowledge that has been gleaned from application of the scientific method by scientists - this would be far better learned informally as general knowledge at the layman level, rather than insisting on formal academic study. The trouble is that the education is system is wedded to "subjects" because that's the way it has always been ....

[KipIngram]

Examples are important in learning how to apply principles. Learning the "scientific principle," and then observing its application via subjects, is better than just stating a principle.

[Rasher Null]

Fair point about examples of application. But if you think about how a layperson might use the SP in their lives it is likely to be something everyday and/or practical, rather than a particular area of scientific research/knowledge.

Edited June 5, 2017 by Rasher Null

[KipIngram]

One of the (junior) high school courses I value the most, on hindsight, was geometry. To the extent I've worked with geometrical things later in life, I've typically used trigonometry to solve the actual problems, which is an altogether different thing. So in that sense I don't really use the theorems of geometry that I labored to prove in that that class. But churning through all of those exercises shaped how my mind works in terms of "finding a way" from a starting point to a desired goal. Just knowing that such reasoning was possible wouldn't have done that - it was the hours and hours and hours of practice that I poured into it, in the context of geometric proofs, that had the lasting effect.

[MigL]

Fortunately I had some very good teachers in high school ( and few really bad ones ).

Two that stand out taught me Physics and Algebra. They didn't just teach me facts or techniques, but instilled in me a passion for learning, which is still strong almost 40 yrs later.

You certainly wouldn't expect an Algebra teacher to explain why trees grow round, or how the pattern of leaves on a branch is related to the Fibonacci sequence.

Or a physics teacher whose first question, in the first class of the Gr 10 year was " Are you moving ? ".

To which I was the only one to reply " Relative to what ? "

[Rasher Null]

One of the (junior) high school courses I value the most, on hindsight, was geometry. To the extent I've worked with geometrical things later in life, I've typically used trigonometry to solve the actual problems, which is an altogether different thing. So in that sense I don't really use the theorems of geometry that I labored to prove in that that class. But churning through all of those exercises shaped how my mind works in terms of "finding a way" from a starting point to a desired goal. Just knowing that such reasoning was possible wouldn't have done that - it was the hours and hours and hours of practice that I poured into it, in the context of geometric proofs, that had the lasting effect.

 

I don't think the arguments for maths training being useful in everyday life translates to science education though, does it?

 

Also, very few people who learn compulsory maths beyond numeracy are able to use it creatively, as far as I can tell. For most people it's a struggle to learn and they jettison it from their minds as soon as the exams are over.

[Delta1212]

I use basic physics on a rough conceptual level constantly in my daily life. How things move, acceleration, unbalanced forces, torque, thermal expansion; these are all things I think about whenever I move things, drive, open things from jars to doors or just walking around. Without doing any math, just an understanding of basic principles is immensely helpful in a wide variety of situations.

 

And even beyond the practical, from an aesthetic point of view, understanding physics fundamentally alters the way you perceive the world around. The more you know, the more your view changes. The physical laws you learn are literally applicable to everything around you every moment of every day. If that isn't mind-blowing to you, I would suggest that you are failing to use the proper degree of imagination in applying what you've learned.

[mad_scientist]

 

I don't think the arguments for maths training being useful in everyday life translates to science education though, does it?

 

Also, very few people who learn compulsory maths beyond numeracy are able to use it creatively, as far as I can tell. For most people it's a struggle to learn and they jettison it from their minds as soon as the exams are over.

I agree!

Also, check this out:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xyowJZxrtbg