Is studying all the school subjects as an adult a waste of time?

[Something Funny]

I've watched Leo's video on high vs low perspectives and his point of general lack of education really stuck with me.

I've passed school with okay grades, but I truly don't feel like I took away that much from it. I've just studied to pass all the tests and exams, never bothering to study just to develop a good understanding of each subject, even on a basic school level.

I've been thinking about going back and studying all of it with Khan Academy and maybe some other resources that I will find. 

But would I be just wasting my time doing that at this point in life?

[Shane Hanlon]

It is really important to a functioning democracy. And is fun when you start to connect different fields together and begin to understand how physics, chemistry, biology, ecology, health, math, and everything is just different facets of the same thing!

Also an education of how the world works can lead to work opportunities that wouldn't be open to you otherwise.

[puporing]

Firstly, I acknowledge there are limited data points. But I don't feel that lots of higher education is required to awaken the mind or to reach God.

It could be a stepping stone and what you might refer to as a correlation, rather than causation. So I'm not saying they can't be closely linked in some way (such as having traits of curiosity, self motivation, taking responsibility for oneself), I also don't see why they have to be. It could foster more questioning or it could also dampen it.  How can we know? Anecdotes are not good enough I suppose.. but we do know most university courses are not about "questioning things", but rather to regurgitate or adopt the professor's views.

Is it true you might encounter more conscious beings/teachers in a university? Perhaps, or perhaps not.. at least in my case some of the most conscious teachers I had (and as well being more influential in my growth) were in junior high and high school.

The issue may also be, what would be in replacement if university education isn't followed, which would make the burden or carving out a plan on the individual as well as their family. 

I guess I am just saying, university is mostly a "survival strategy" (for work), rather than being some kind of essential thing for becoming a more conscious being, at this time.

Edited January 23 by puporing

[Basman]

In my experience, a lot of basic education is forgotten in practice due to lack of direct relevance to daily life. Therefor, study what you think is interesting and see where it takes you. Then its not a waste of time even if its useless.

[LastThursday]

In my experience nothing is ever wasted. There are always side benefits to learning anything in more depth, even if the subject itself doesn't seem directly useful at the time.

The biggest benefit is improving your ability to learn new stuff. The more you do it the easier it gets. Even in the workplace you'll have to learn new stuff all the time nowadays, this is an advantage if you can be ahead of your peers. If you want to work for yourself, then you'll definitely have to learn new stuff constantly. If you can do this efficiently, the pay off is obvious.

Another is that different subjects cross over into each other as @Shane Hanlon says. Anything new you learn also crosses over into other areas of your life, even if you haven't studied those other areas.  Even a basic grasp of things like maths can help with understanding your finances and money better, especially so you don't get hoodwinked by others. 

The last point is quite important. If you want to take control of your life, you'll need a good BS filter, and you can only get that by educating yourself well in lots of different areas.

Edited January 23 by LastThursday

[MarkKol]

A large waste of time

there are millions of things to educate yourself about outside of the standard school curriculum

Khan academy is a joke, private tutoring will always beat it, if you’re serious about any specific subject

Everyone eventually forgets all that stuff anyway since it has no real area of application in real life

[UnbornTao]

Merely exposing yourself to a variety of subjects and ways of thinking about the world can be worthwhile, depending on what you make of it. I'd rather pick a set of subjects that pique my curiosity instead of strictly following a given school's curriculum, unless that's what you want to do.

Edited January 26 by UnbornTao

[LastThursday]

14 hours ago, UnbornTao said:

I'd rather pick any set of subjects that pique my curiosity, instead of strictly following a school's curriculum.

Same. But sometimes being "forced" to look at subjects you wouldn't have done otherwise can open up new avenues of interest. And, even if you're not that interested it may still have utility in future.

[UnbornTao]

On 24/1/2025 at 2:37 PM, LastThursday said:

Same. But sometimes being "forced" to look at subjects you wouldn't have done otherwise can open up new avenues of interest. And, even if you're not that interested it may still have utility in future.

That's true. Also, even if it ultimately doesn't have much utility in your life, it can still enhance your learning ability, whether in a small or significant way. And that is worthwhile in itself.

Edited January 26 by UnbornTao

[Jacob Morres]

i'd definietely keep that passion for learning but put it toward things that will help you something practical that will benefit you

for example learning advanced calc would be valuable for students wanting to be a professor or specialized stem fields

whereas learning real estate might help you be more financially secure in the long-term 

Edited January 28 by Jacob Morres

[Sandy6]

No.

In the past, I believed it was a waste of time.

But if it works for you, why not try it? If, after some time, it doesn’t, then stop.

Just because someone says it's a waste of time doesn't mean it will be for you.

Sometimes, we avoid learning for many reasons and instead get distracted or engage in activities that are less beneficial than studying itself.

I mean, it's better than endlessly scrolling through social media for entertainment or hanging out too much for fun.

So, it depends.

For example, as a content creator, you might get inspiration from it for teaching, or it could inspire you to join certain forums on a specific topic and connect with people. There are a lot of possibilities.

So, decide and don’t get caught up in overthinking it. Through experience, you'll find the answer.

[Michael569]

Definitely not a waste of time. I've bought bunch of high school text books on chemistry and biology and been relearning some things I studied when I was at school. Back then I was completely uninterested in any of it but now I find use in all that knowledge. 

I think its also a way to potentially discovery your passion later in life. If you are curious about life, you'll be interested in all of it: history, geography, philosophy, maths, science, botany etc 

Not sure about Khan's academy approach tho. You'll get content catered by someone else.  I think I'd instead pick a book about subject that interests me or even pick specific articles/journals about subtopic of interest like mineral studies, history of Napoleonic wars etc rather than studying the entire field.  ideally if it is aligned with your life purpose work since we all have limited amount of time. 

Edited Saturday at 10:55 AM by Michael569