On: Brainwashed: How to Reinvent Yourself (Seth Godin)

[iskander]

>Do you remember learning to factor quadrilateral equations? x2 -32x +12? Why were you taught this? Why did they spend hours drilling you on such clearly useless content? Simple: you were being trained to be a compliant cog, someone who could mindlessly follow instructions as opposed to seeking out innovation and surprise.

Oh god...

[JohnnyBrown → iskander]

The sharp ones get a different lesson from high school algebra: Apply your mind, find the pattern, and you'll get better results out of less work than everyone else.

[Andys → iskander]

I have to admit, I was annoyed when I discovered the world of discrete maths that high school focused so much on calculus and algebra.

I think my class maths would have been better off understanding how to tackle counting and probability problems to restore some balance.

[SapphireSun → iskander]

It was because that concept was really useful :P I factor them all the time when trying to engineer things.

[yagibear → iskander]

I liked the quadrilateral (as opposed to quadratic) touch.

[anatoly → yagibear]

And the x2 (as opposed to x^2) touch.