education system

i understand that colleges want their students to have a well-rounded education upon receiving their degree-but is it worth the problems it causes? i am talking about having to take prerequisites that have nothing to do with the desired major. i am speaking out of experience. i am not a math person, and am so horrible with numbers that i have never got above a c in a math class-it is just a natural disability. on the other hand, i am very gifted with language, and usually get As in any subject that is language oriented-i.e. english, social studies, psychology, etc. anyway, i am majoring in psychology and have all As and Bs-except i dont know if i will ever be able to get a C in my college algebra class(actually i am pretty sure i will eventually, but for some people, this may not be the case). wouldn't it be a bunch of bs if all i had to do to complete my degree was to get a C in college algebra and that is it, yet i couldn't do it? the fact is that a lot of people have similar problems to those i have, but even more severe. perhaps there is someone who is an absolute genius at math, like a regular newton-but who just couldn't figure out how to write a decent paper, no matter how hard he studied and tried. this person, who has incredible potential to help humanity in some great way, will probably get discouraged and drop out of college and not pursue education. im sure that this has happened a lot because of the strict prerequisite requirements at colleges, and i don't think that making sure students have a well-rounded education is worth losing so many potential geniuses.

if a person is truly smart, they dont need a piece of paper telling themsevles or others this fact. people still "make it" without even finishing high school when they are truly smart and have something to offer to society. i do think its BS tho, cuz life seems to be a lot easier with that dumb piece of paper.

Einstein did not graduate from high school. But Einstein did not live in the year 2004, unfortunately you do. Because employers recognize that college students can learn faster and conceptualize means that you will have an increased chance at getting a good job if you have a college degree.

It's college! Go out have a beer, drown your 'sorrows' of not being able to pass the test/class w/ a C or better, then get a tutor and take it again. You're there for a short few years, live it up, do not let one single class effect your state of mind. There's plenty of time after college to figure out the logic of life that is mathamatics.

...you are correct Decius but college is more than just a 4 year degree and a job at the end. You are an administrator to a quasi-philosophical website and you have 662 post as I see. Why not go to college and get a philosophy degree where you could have some educational structure built into your arguements by studying and learning what other scholars have discovered. Do you consider yourself a philosopher?

I agree with you completely. I do not think philosophy is revealed through a textbook. I think philosophy is uncovered through conversation. It's that point in the conversation where both you and the person you're talking with take a deep sigh and stop talking for a few minutes to ponder how you got to the conclusion you had never thought of before that point in time. Sorry about the metaphor, but I see it as the primary form of bring consciousness of a particular subject to surface of the mind through dialogue.

However studying the logic of other philosophers can help you determine where they may have gone wrong in their theories which might later help you to perfect your own philosophies. Reading and structured application are, I think, a great way to speed up the process of doing philosophy. It would be like trying to get to the number 3 and knowing that 1+1 will not cut it. Do you know what I mean?

Sorry to go off topic, I'm going to just make a new thread about this...

Please check it out...