Useless knowledge we're forced to learn, have never used and have now forgotten

I had to memorize all of the books of the bible in their order for confirmation. New and old. Cannot say that I can remember all in order now. At the time I guess it helped find each book if you needed to look something up.

And... You haven't lived until you wrote out the number for the speed of light in BINARY! Did that in high school and got it right.

I had to learn several hundred Latin plant names. I still remember them, but there's no room for other stuff now :(

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Originally Posted by Paul McGaha

I work with a guy that still remembers the capitals to I guess all the states and all the other countries. Says he just remembers it from grade school. He's about a 25 year old EE.

PHM

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I still know most of the capitals. Let's see - A, C, D, F, G, H, I, K, L, M, N, O, P, R, S, T, U, V, W

As for the rest of the stuff I may have forgotten, that's pales in comparison to what I don't know. Heck, you could fill a book with what I don't know.

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Useless knowledge we're forced to learn, have never used and have now forgotten

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Microsoft certification tests......
Possibly the most useless things ever.

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Originally Posted by Jim Koepke

Knowing things like even though H is the eighth letter of the alphabet and there are 8 notes in a musical scale yet H isn't in the musical scale are other bits of memory that won't get us any more on a paycheck.

jtk

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Actually, there are 7 notes in a musical scale. The eighth note is the first note of the next octave.

And some people, like my wife, might consider those little pieces of knowledge useless...I however, am a trivia nerd, and love learning those random facts. Like today I learned that yak's milk is pink.

On the other hand, I tend to forget things pretty easily, especially if I never completely got them in the first place. So don't ever ask me to perform a limit calculation by hand...or a derivative the long way (Using limits)....Can't do it, never could very well. But I can derivate and integrate the normal way without much dificulty...

My memory is about like Kelly Bundy's.

Gain something, Lose something.

Whenever I gain something I just kind of hope I didnt lose something important.

PHM

The list is endless:
Good grammar.... Fuhgeddaboutit.
English syntax.... what good is it for?
Geometry....... it's either out of square or out of round.
Climbing a rope (PE)...... do I really have to comment?
Literature..... no Great Expectations here.
Shop.... OK! So there are a few exceptions, but I have never made
another tin cup since.
Don't even get me started on the grade school stuff..
WHO says I have to stay inside the lines?

Although I do know there are 26 letters in the English alphabet it does make one ponder the things we have learned and forgotten.

Another trivia buff here. I even qualified to go on Jeopardy once. I rule at Cash Cab. The sad part is that I constantly confuse my kids names, and cannot name more than one of my high school teachers. The brain node responsible for remembering names has always been undersized.

Useless stuff? It's locked in.

Rick Potter

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Originally Posted by Paul McGaha

I work with a guy that still remembers the capitals to I guess all the states and all the other countries. Says he just remembers it from grade school. He's about a 25 year old EE.

PHM

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I could probably get close on countries but I don't remember doing it in school. I have just picked it up as an adult. Oceania gets onto shaky ground (or rather water). What's the capital of the Soloman Islands? I have no idea.

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Originally Posted by Bill Edwards(2)

English syntax.... what good is it for?

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Yea, that brings back some memories of diagramming sentences in English class... :mad: Talk about useless knowledge..

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Originally Posted by Jim Koepke

Finally, the ultimate useless piece of information:

In a major league baseball game the first batter was walked. The starting pitcher argued with the umpire and was ejected from the game. The relieving pitcher came in to the game and picked off the runner on first. He then retired the next 26 batters. By today's rules this is not a perfect game.

Can you name the starting pitcher?

Funny thing is that most people with absolutely no knowledge of baseball guess this one and get the right answer.jtk

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Help me out here; I don't even know how to Google that! :D

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Originally Posted by Zach England

Sometimes the point is not what you learn, but the skills you develop while learning it.

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+1 for this! Many times the primary purpose of a course(or even an entire subject) is exactly this.

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Originally Posted by Bill Edwards(2)

The list is endless:
Good grammar.... Fuhgeddaboutit.
English syntax.... what good is it for?
Literature..... no Great Expectations here.

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You have got to be kidding!
If you ever expect to get a decent job, and then be able to communicate properly with colleagues and others in your chosen profession, you need to have these skills! Especially in today's world.
My wife is an Jr. high English teacher in small town Arkansas. She fights this battle everyday with her students (and their parents). At the same time she hears from former students that have gone onto college and into the real world that thank her over and over about how what they learned in her class had changed their lives.
To me, it is no joking matter! These things are VERY important!!!!!

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Originally Posted by Jim Koepke

Finally, the ultimate useless piece of information:

In a major league baseball game the first batter was walked. The starting pitcher argued with the umpire and was ejected from the game. The relieving pitcher came in to the game and picked off the runner on first. He then retired the next 26 batters. By today's rules this is not a perfect game.

Can you name the starting pitcher?

Funny thing is that most people with absolutely no knowledge of baseball guess this one and get the right answer.

jtk

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The right answer to this question is "No". You have not given enough information. (unless this situation is an actual event)

BTW: This would have not been a perfect game at anytime in baseball history, since the definition of a perfect game is that no batter ever reaches a base.