RE: Do we really need to learn all that in school?
Really interesting post. Loved how you presented both sides of the arguement.
Coming from someone who was terrible(and probably still is) at school and academics, I'm obviously going to side with the opinion of not putting too much pressure on your child when it comes to school. But at the same time, it's difficult to cater to every child considering the fact that we're all different and probably learn things at very different rates if we are capable of learning them at all. I feel that it always came down to actually being interested or passionate about something. For as much as I forced myself to study back in the day, the concepts of maths and physics would just not go in. But hey, maybe I'm in the minority here :P
Either way, really enjoyed your post :) And I agree that people like Conor McGregor definitely fall in the 5%.
Oh, definitely. Looking back, the subjects where I always did well in school were those that I liked the best (literature, biology, philosophy, psychology, genetics, etc.), and I'm sure many people had a similar experience, so passion is a key element for succeeding at something.
Fun fact: even though I was always a nerdy nerd and a Straight‑A student, once I reached high school I started failing Maths and Physics right and left. Like you said, it was like the concepts would just not go in. I had to get private lessons in order to barely pass my tests so my final grades look quite funny, a collection of C's and D's in Maths and Physics with A's in everything else...
Thanks for commenting and sharing your experience, @branlee87!