That had a lot to do with what kind of programmer I am today even if I was one of the worst students in the class.
(Though admittedly, knowledge of English or German might be very useful if you are coming from Romania.)
Agreed but imagine how boring CS would be if people were ignorant of all of those other subjects.
Disagree. There would be no computer science without philosophy (but not the other way around).
> ...imagine how boring CS would be if people were ignorant of all of those other subjects.
If we eliminate philosophy from our curriculum, et cetera, I poise that kids entering high school this year will be obsolete by the time they have graduated. Because CS without philosophy is really just machine learning, right?
As for learning you do because you enjoy it, treat it as consumption (i.e., the same way you treat an X-Box).
Since the cost of learning X tends to be high (at least if you learn it in school), and the cost of not knowing it is very often nothing but the cost of learning it + cost of delays, this inequality is very often not satisfied.
And the opportunity cost of not knowing things can be staggering.
If you just want to maximize your wealth, maybe that approach is workable, since there are more tangible numbers involved, but if you're optimizing for happiness, it's much, much harder.
I completely agree. But something is not only 'useful' if you can use it in your career.
Worst off are clinical psychologists (19.1%), best off (0%) are actuaries, pharmacists, school administrators, and surprisingly, geologists and astronomers (!).