> The most important point of school isn't accumulating facts or skills but teaching students _how to think_. How to reason, how to solve problems, the absorption of a diversity of ideas and topics.
This is a rationalization. The real reason people learn literature, algebra and so on is a mixture of practical application and historical accident.
If the reason they teach algebra really were to teach "how to reason" they would teach actual mathematical logic. That's what they teach Computer Science students who actually need to know how to reason to do their jobs.
If the reason they teach literature really were to teach "how to think" they would teach how to properly read non-fiction books, not just fiction. If they really wanted to teach "critical thinking" they would teach actual rhetoric.
We can't expect to just teach kids a bunch of arbitrary useless things and expect that, as a pure side effect, they will end up learning what we want them to learn.
This is a rationalization. The real reason people learn literature, algebra and so on is a mixture of practical application and historical accident.
If the reason they teach algebra really were to teach "how to reason" they would teach actual mathematical logic. That's what they teach Computer Science students who actually need to know how to reason to do their jobs.
If the reason they teach literature really were to teach "how to think" they would teach how to properly read non-fiction books, not just fiction. If they really wanted to teach "critical thinking" they would teach actual rhetoric.
We can't expect to just teach kids a bunch of arbitrary useless things and expect that, as a pure side effect, they will end up learning what we want them to learn.