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In your opinion what is the most important subject? (1 Viewer)

michael1990

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I still don't agree. ^^^

Have you got a link???

I mean it would be whats happening in some cases, but i doubt that more than 50% of people don't think money brings happiness.

It does bring happiness if you know how to use it.
 

amiee lee

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I believe english and maths are the most important for school and everyday life. By learning as much as you can about using words in english, your general communication will improve with other people in society. Maths is used everyday with money, time and banking. Other subjects like biology and legal studies can be good to study aswell but it depends on your interests and willingness to study the subject.
:wave:
 

michael1990

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amiee lee said:
I believe english and maths are the most important for school and everyday life. By learning as much as you can about using words in english, your general communication will improve with other people in society. Maths is used everyday with money, time and banking. Other subjects like biology and legal studies can be good to study aswell but it depends on your interests and willingness to study the subject.
:wave:
I can understand Legal Studies.

But why biology?
i mean nobody cares if their kids are going to have blue eyes instead of brown.
 

Aerath

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ccc123 said:
Happiness is essentially an intrinsic state. Thus, while external factors (such as money) can certainly provide ephemeral happiness, trait happiness (as opposed to situational happiness) is compelled by an inherent force.
Not quite sure what ephemeral means - but I guess that's sorta what I was trying to explain - in a less complex way? :D
 

ccc123

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Aerath said:
Not quite sure what ephemeral means - but I guess that's sorta what I was trying to explain - in a less complex way? :D
ephemeral---> short-lived. Hence, I was trying to say external factors (in this case, money and the things that it can buy) will only deliver temporary, superfical happiness.
 

foram

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ccc123 said:
ephemeral---> short-lived. Hence, I was trying to say external factors (in this case, money and the things that it can buy) will only deliver temporary, superfical happiness.
I don't think FF7 Crisis core is superficial.
 

Aerath

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ccc123 said:
ephemeral---> short-lived. Hence, I was trying to say external factors (in this case, money and the things that it can buy) will only deliver temporary, superfical happiness.
Yep. And I agree.

foram said:
I don't think FF7 Crisis core is superficial.
Care to elaborate?
 

leoyh

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maths is the most important because there is practical applications of it everywhere in the world, whether it be based upon how something was built all the way to calculating the change you should get from buying something. without maths (and hence science), we probably wouldnt be as modernised and advanced as we were today. technology would be based around maths and science in some ways.

english is important too, but you don't need to know how to critically analyse texts and write concise and structured essays to be able to survive in the world.
 

Dota55

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Maths and english both have their advantages i guess. I mean, in English the skills in analysing texts and being able to identify particular features and their meaning does help, and it can (to some extent) be applicable to the real world.

But Maths i think is the most important. It has a far higher pragmatic value than English, it can be immediately applied to a variety of application in the real world and the skills gained from maths can have a profound effect on our everyday lives (e.g engineering).

Obviously, you need to be able to communicate effectively in English, and be able to bring up strong points and convince people on your perspective, etc. But i think Maths (oh, and the Sciences) are more important.

That being said, English Advanced is a terrible, terrible course.

And i didn't bother to read any of your posts.
 

Dota55

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michael1990 said:
I can understand Legal Studies.

But why biology?
i mean nobody cares if their kids are going to have blue eyes instead of brown.
Biology (read: not the hopelessly pathetic HSC course) can have a profound effect on people's happiness. It lengthens the lifespan and quality of life of the populace through finding cures to diseases, developing better artificial organs and compensating for physical discrepancies and various health-related issues.
 

michael1990

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Dota55 said:
Biology (read: not the hopelessly pathetic HSC course) can have a profound effect on people's happiness. It lengthens the lifespan and quality of life of the populace through finding cures to diseases, developing better artificial organs and compensating for physical discrepancies and various health-related issues.
But how many people actually go on to be a scientist?

Really?

I think it would be a smaller percentage than say Commerce.

If its like that, you could say well Economics and Business because they usually allow people to earn a lot of money which will in turn improve their quality of life.
 

Dota55

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Scientists help contribute to progress. Progress brings immediate benefits to people in a plethora of ways. Improved health, longer lifespans, convience, increased possibilities, effeciency and so on. Specifically in terms of biology, the reasons are obvious. You need doctors to treat you. You need surgeons to operate on you when you're seriously ill. You need biological engineers to develop artificial devices that can contribute towards treatment. You need civil engineers to help build infrastructure. You need mechanical engineers to develop more efficient mechanical devices. You need electric and telecommunication engineers to establish technological infrastructure and enable communication.

These are the impacts of science and (so that we're not shifting the argument somewhere else) maths. This is why maths is so important.

Commerce: You take money from as many people as possible while minimising the amount that they take from you. Not very beneficial to society as a whole.

Case in point: Maths and English are useful (reasons are obvious), but i believe that Maths is more useful. You need it for scientific progress, and you need it for the progress of society and civilisation in general.
 

michael1990

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Dota55 said:
Scientists help contribute to progress. Progress brings immediate benefits to people in a plethora of ways. Improved health, longer lifespans, convience, increased possibilities, effeciency and so on. Specifically in terms of biology, the reasons are obvious. You need doctors to treat you. You need surgeons to operate on you when you're seriously ill. You need biological engineers to develop artificial devices that can contribute towards treatment.
The argument was not what scientists actually do for society. But an argument for how many people actually become scientists.

Dota55 said:
You need civil engineers to help build infrastructure. You need mechanical engineers to develop more efficient mechanical devices. You need electric and telecommunication engineers to establish technological infrastructure and enable communication.
I don't understand where biology comes from with these engineers?


Dota55 said:
Commerce: You take money from as many people as possible while minimising the amount that they take from you. Not very beneficial to society as a whole.
Money makes the world go around.
Basic economic principal, says unlimited wants and limited resources to solve those won'ts. Businesses do their best to solve those wants. So i believe Business and Economics are very important subjects.

Dota55 said:
Case in point: Maths and English are useful (reasons are obvious), but i believe that Maths is more useful. You need it for scientific progress, and you need it for the progress of society and civilisation in general.
I agree mathematics and english are very important. They would come after the humanities.
 

Dota55

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michael1990 said:
The argument was not what scientists actually do for society. But an argument for how many people actually become scientists.
Which is redudant, as the number of people who do a particular job in no ways represents its importance. There's more garbagemen than surgeons, does that mean that the garbagemen are more important?

Economic theory (which you're clearly a strong advocate for) also supports this. Surgeons get more money because they contribute more to the economy.


I don't understand where biology comes from with these engineers?
They don't, I was just expanding my point across all fields of science.


Money makes the world go around.
Basic economic principal, says unlimited wants and limited resources to solve those won'ts. Businesses do their best to solve those wants. So i believe Business and Economics are very important subjects.
Theory and practical applications are not the same thing. Nor does a theory always work in a pratical application.

Example: Communism


I'm aware of what you're saying (i do economics too :)), but thats clearly not the aim of businessowners, to 'solve these unlimited wants'. They're there to make money for themselves. Its that simple.

You're trying to justify what is clearly your desired carreer pathway as bearing some greater humanitiarian/social benefit. In reality however, you're only choosing said pathway becuase it offers high pay and you want in, amirite? :)


Edit: And if you think the limited scope of the HSC actually offers any information applicable in a pragmatic manner, think again.
 
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michael1990

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Dota55 said:
Economic theory (which you're clearly a strong advocate for) also supports this. Surgeons get more money because they contribute more to the economy
How do they contribute more to the economy?

Dota55 said:
They don't, I was just expanding my point across all fields of science.
Oh okay, understand now.

Dota55 said:
Theory and practical applications are not the same thing. Nor does a theory always work in a pratical application.
But they try to make it work. A lot theory isn't applicable in reality.

Dota55 said:
I'm aware of what you're saying (i do economics too :)), but thats clearly not the aim of businessowners, to 'solve these unlimited wants'. They're there to make money for themselves. Its that simple.

You're trying to justify what is clearly your desired carreer pathway as bearing some greater humanitiarian/social benefit. In reality however, you're only choosing said pathway becuase it offers high pay and you want in, amirite? :)


Edit: And if you think the limited scope of the HSC actually offers any information applicable in a pragmatic manner, think again.
This is the aim of most businesses. They are there to also make a profit of course, as well as non-profit. I don't want a career which is all about money, BUT would still be good. I want a career which makes me happy. I mean money isn't everything.

I think it does, it builds fundations.
 

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