In The Long Run We Are All Dead

professional twin | amateur adult | econ grad student | perpetually tired | hobbies include reading, constantly messing with Linux distros, and drinking beer | might try making this a studyblr thing

[studentlifeproblems]

[languill]

It’s sad how much of what is taught in school is useless to over 99% of the population.

There are literally math concepts taught in high school and middle school that are only used in extremely specialized fields or that are even so outdated they aren’t used anymore!

[flavoracle]

I took calculus my senior year of high school, and I really liked the way our teacher framed this on the first day of class.

He asked somebody to raise their hand and ask him when we would use calculus in our everyday life. So one student rose their hand and asked, “When are we going to use this in our everyday life?”

“NEVER!!” the teacher exclaimed. “You will never use calculus in your normal, everyday life. In fact, very few of you will use it in your professional careers either.” Then he paused. “So would you like to know why should care?”

Several us nodded.

He picked out one of the varsity football players in the class. “You practice football a lot during the week, right Tim?” asked the teacher.

“Yeah,” replied Tim. “Almost every day.”

“Do you and your teammates ever lift weights during practice?”

“Yeah. Tuesdays and Thursdays we spend a lot of practice in the weight room.”

“But why?” asked the teacher. “Is there ever going to be a play your coach tells you use during a game that requires you to bench press the other team?”

“No, of course not.”

“Then why lift weights?”

“Because it makes us stronger,” said Tim.

“Bingo!!” said the teacher. “It’s the same thing with calculus. You’re not here because you’re going to use calculus in your everyday life. You’re here because calculus is weightlifting for your brain.”

And I’ve never forgotten that.

[c-is-for-circinate]

THIS.

When it’s taught right, learning math teaches you logic and how to organize your brain, how to take a problem one step at a time and make sure every step can bear weight before you move to the next one.  Most adults don’t need to know integrals, but goddamn if I don’t wish everyone making arguments on the internet understood geometric proofs.

Scientific concepts broaden our understanding of how the world is put together, which does not mean that most adults ever really understand how light is refracted through a lens or why spinning copper wire creates electricity–and they don’t need to.  But science classes in general are meant to teach the scientific method: how to make observations and use them to draw conclusions, how to test those conclusions, how to be wrong and grow stronger from it.

History isn’t about dates and names of battles, it’s about people, patterns, things we’ve tried before and ought to learn from.  It’s about how everything is linked, how changing one circumstance can lead to changes in fifty others, cascading infinitely.  Literature is about critical thinking, pattern recognition, learning to listen to what somebody is saying and decide what it means to you, how you feel about it, and what you want to do with it.

Some facts matter: every adult should know how to read a graph, how global warming works, some of the basic themes and symbols that crop up in every piece of fiction.  But ultimately, content is less important later in life than context.

The good thing is, students who learn the content are likely to pick up at least some of the context, some of the patterns of thinking, even if they don’t realize it.  (The unfortunate thing is how the current educational system prioritizes content so much that a lot of students, and a lot of adults, don’t see the point in learning either, and teachers are overworked and held to standardize test grading scales such that it’s hard for them to emphasize patterns of thinking over rote memorization, etc etc etc, but that is a whole different discussion.)

[moi-ennepe-deactivated20251213]

thank u <3

[unixporn]

[studentlifeproblems]

[werewolbachia]

opposite of impostor syndrome where I do deceive my way into an industry and I enjoy it

[werewolbachia]

>:)

[studentlifeproblems]

[rocketumbl]

Seiko h-timetron

[hazy-october]

source

[general-history-reference]

[helenasurvives]

calling all authors!!

i have just stumbled upon the most beautiful public document i have ever laid eyes on. this also goes for anyone whose pastimes include any sort of character creation. may i present, the HOLY GRAIL:

https://www.fbiic.gov/public/2008/nov/Naming_practice_guide_UK_2006.pdf

this wonderful 88-page piece has step by step breakdowns of how names work in different cultures! i needed to know how to name a Muslim character, it has already helped me SO MUCH and i’ve known about it for all of 15 minutes!! i am thoroughly amazed and i just needed to share with you guys 

[studentlifeproblems]

This is a reminder to study, while scrolling through tumblr.

[neat-deadandlive-things]

Friday of a long weekend before reading week and I'm tipsy!

It's time for Drunk Science with NDLT!

Way back in first year university I got drunk at a party and immediately started lecturing people about evolutionary biology. Since then, when ever I drink, my friends and family request Drunk Science with Tipsy (my name). I aim to educate with some totally true and/or false facts usually entirely off topic.

So ask me some science questions and I might answer!

(Drunk Science with NDLT is not responsible for being entirely incorrect and/Or slightly incorrect. fact check things for yourself)

(Beer is great)

[anxietyproblem]

[yodaprod]

1986

[soothifying]

Winter Wonderland Paradise

Source: Instagram

[arsonistblue]

sir please that’s my emotional support group of mutuals who I never interact with but still care deeply about

[einstetic]

tomorrow i’m going to be hella productive!!!!

[einstetic]

never mind