How much of what you know gets used?

[dimensionless]

I have a decent size reservoir of academic knowledge. I have a lot of expertise that goes unused at my job. If I changed jobs (the number of times of which is something I'm trying to minimize), I could probably use more of what I know.

That being said, there's this PhD that I work under. I have a broad idea of what he knows, and a general idea of what he does at his job. I'm nearly certain that much of what he knows also goes unused, although his job relates more strongly to his area of expertise...so he seems to be in the same boat as me, although he probably makes much much more that me, which would be a good perk.

 

[Vanadium 50]

If you mean "how many facts do I use", not many. If you mean "how much of the analytic skills that were developed in school do I use", rather a lot.

 

[Locrian]

Put me down for what Vanadium 50 said.

 

[Danger86514]

ditto

 

[Hmoob]

So why is it that the educational system teaches nothing but memorizing facts?

 

[viet_jon]

So why is it that the educational system teaches nothing but memorizing facts?

have you taken a calc class?
say proofs for example...
sure, you can memorize them, but if you fail to understand them, you miss the whole point.

or a programming class,
sure you can memorize syntax, but if you can't apply it to solve problems, your not programming.

 

[Math Is Hard]

So why is it that the educational system teaches nothing but memorizing facts?

That's only true if you go to a crappy school. A good program will expect you to synthesize your knowledge.

 

[Defennder]

So why is it that the educational system teaches nothing but memorizing facts?

I can't think of any college degree program for which this is true. Certainly it may hold for high school and below, but no where else.

 

[Andy Resnick]

So why is it that the educational system teaches nothing but memorizing facts?

That may certainly seem to be the case with many classes. OTOH, as a student, you are, by definition, supposed to be learning a body of knowledge. It's not realistic to claim mastery of a subject without knowing the factual basis of the subject.