Which of the 4 main school subjects is the most important?

IMO: English. At the end of the day, everything requires good reading and writing skills. Say I'm a scientist and I make some big discovery. Great, but if I don't have the writing skills necessary to write a good paper, or if my colleagues don't have the reading skills necessary to understand it, then I might as well have done nothing.

Most people will never have to know more than basic science or basic math, and history is rarely something you ever have to know if you're not a teacher or a historian, but every white collar worker needs to know how to read and write. Poor reading and writing skills will hold your career way farther behind than not knowing algebra, physics, or world history.

History and art by far, critical thinking skills are a lost skill amongst the current generation. It's all math and science and if you don't excel it you might as well sign up for welfare now....

For me personally, it's math and science. These are what really change the world to me. The amazing things science can do whether it be morally good or bad are astounding at times.

Where's home economics? You have to know how to take care of yourself.

English. I'm an English major so I'm totally not biased or anything.

You can make a good argument for any of them. I personally think they vary in importance at different levels of education. Good reading and writing skills are far more important to the high school grad than good math skills, assuming the basics are covered. Once those skills reach the collegiate level, math and science overtake pretty much everything else in importance. But, at the same time, maybe having a strong foundations in history and social studies is the most important things given how they can help with human relations?? So, I think it just depends.

Anything involving analytical skills.

Math. It isnt just about solving math problems but learning how to efficiently solve a problem. Humanity made it a long time by concentrating on analytical skills. Reading and writing only really became a priority in the last century or two.

English and Math. Theres a reason why they say you need math and English to go further then regular school level in life

English. First you learn to read then you read to learn.

History because it's my fav and everything i say is right

PE > Math

Math and English, probably.

Math and Social Studies.

• Hand to hand combat
• Primitive survival skills
• Marksmanship
• & Knife throwing

Are the only truly important subjects.

Someone has actually voted English wtf

Mathematics is the foundation for all other fields of learning and the bedrock of literally everything we do. As long as you can communicate your ideas then that's enough English, learning mathematics and science will advance the human race, learning English beyond a certain point turns into Art, which is not as productive as STEM.

WHERE IS MUSIC!

History or Math.

The purpose of the former is to help people decipher developments made from past actions of civilizations in implementing better developments to our own.

The latter, even though it's a miserable pain in the butt, basically helps people think more logically.

Science or maths

English and history. Most of the math you learn will never be used and science is only really useful if you pursue that path or get stranded in the wilderness. English is the skill we use most and history teaches us valuable lessons and ensures that we dont repeat mistakes from the past.

Math, Chemistry, Biology and physics, screw the rest.

Math then English, they rest are pretty irrelevant imo.

Was gonna say Maths, but English is the obvious choice.

You should have proper writing and reading skills before getting into anything else. And i mean proper skills. I know a few guys whose maths skills are good, but their grammar sucks, their reading skills suck, and thus are not very efficient in everything else that isn't maths.

Maths may be more important for bigger stuff but English is absolutely crucial to convey the basics. You wouldn't be sitting here right now talking about how maths is more important than English, if it wasn't for English.

Math and science . without them we would probably still living in caves and hunting our own food

Equal...to say one is more important is silly...people should to be well rounded.

While they're all important, they are far from equal. You can do fine in the real world without knowing about the Battle of Hastings, you can't do fine in the real world if you can't read or write well. Again, not saying history is meaningless, I'm just saying that not all subjects are equal.

I take it you didn't bother to read my comment you're replying to. Yes Enlgish is important, but the OP is asking about which is most important to learn at school, by about age 10 most people have a vocabulary sufficient to convey just about any idea they need to, past this point it becomes art, something that isn't productive. However, with Mathematics and Science there is no such ceiling; the more of these you learn the more you can do, which is why they're vastly more important to place emphasis on at school. It's much more important that we have scientists than authors.

@mrmonster: I disagree...people who lack knowledge of history tend to ignore important societal realities around them which can cause all sorts of issues especially ethical and moral ones; there is a reason doctors (at least in the US) are required to know some sociology. Moreover, history forms the basis of understanding any field especially the importance of the origins of a field which form the basis of any knowledge base. Also, things like constitutional rights, human rights, and legal rights are all as important to know as reading, math, and science skills in the right circumstances.

Maths.

I think the hierarchy depends on the level of education. English is a super important subject for elementary school, but the stuff you learn in English class in high school is totally irrelevant.

However, the subject that doesn't have a fluctuating importance is math. It's more important than the other three subjects combined by a wide margin. I mean, success in mathematics can actually serve as a predictor for how successful you'll be in life, regardless of where in the world you live. That should say something.

well..... science requires both math and english, and even some history too.

So yeah, i'm going with science.

No they do not. By the age of 10, most people's writing sucks. Most high school graduates can barely write an okay paper. The majority of people do not have the writing skills necessary to really convey anything until college.

And no, reading and writing skills are not only necessary for art (not that it would be a problem if it did, you are seriously downplaying the importance of art) but my point is, good reading and writing skills are needed for more than just art. At the end of the day, everything requires good writing skills. Scientists and mathematicians who make important discoveries need to have the writing skills necessary to convey their ideas, writing skills most of them will not have until they've at least finished their freshmen year of college, and the students who will study their work need good reading skills, which again, most won't have until college English.

No it is not. English class is the only time most high school students read and write, which isn't good, because reading and writing are more important than any other skill, regardless of what field you go into. Whether you plan on becoming a lawyer, a doctor, an engineer, a teacher, a researcher, or whatever other white collar job you can think of, you need to be able to read and write at a college level. English class is about more than just understanding Romeo and Juliet, it's about literacy, the most important skill in life. Math is important too, but not as important as being able to read and write at a college level, or even a high school level.

@mrmonster: i think you're overestimating the importance of english way too much.

Think about how many jobs requires good writing skills..... opposed to how many do not, and tell me which group is more numerous. Needless to say, good writing skills are not necessary for most jobs in the world, and hardly have any utility whatsoever in real life practical situations (unlike math and science).

I'm really not, because English skills are what make learning everything else possible. Some people on this thread (not pointing at you in particular, it seems to be a recurring theme here) seem to be under the impression that beyond high school, you have enough reading and writing skills to carry you through life. That is far from true for most of us. Good reading and writing skills are the only skills needed across all fields; a biologist will have no use for history, a mathematician will have no use for chemistry, and a historian will have no use for algebra, but all three of those people will need to know how to read and write at a college level.

And even outside of professors and researchers, reading and writing is important. In the workforce, you're a lot more likely to have to read a textbook or write a report than use the Pythagorean theorem or workout a physics problem. Again, not trying to devalue the importance of math and science, I'm just trying to make a point.

I'm with mrmonster on this one.

well look, this is a list i found of the most common jobs in america:

1 Retail salespersons

2 Cashiers

3 Office clerks

4 Combined food preparation and serving workers

5 Registered nurses

6 Waiters and waitresses

7 Customer service representatives

8 Janitors and cleaners

9 Freight, stock, and hand material mover laborers

10 Secretaries and administrative assistants

11 Stock clerks and order fillers

12 General and operation managers

13 Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks

14 Elementary school teachers

15 Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers

16 Nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants

17 Wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives

18 First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers

19 Teacher assistants

20 Bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists

and tell me if good writing skills are actually so important in these jobs. I think not.....

BS, school should teach you how to properly spot FEATS to use in debates for your favourite characters.

Science and then maths. We need more scientists and engineers.

But those jobs do not pay as well or contribute as much to society (with some exceptions, like nurses) as jobs that require good writing skills. News editors, reporters, lawyers, and politicians are much more important jobs than cashiers and wait staff.

Here are some things you might want to read.

https://www.livecareer.com/career/advice/jobs/writing-skills-on-job

https://study.com/articles/jobs_that_require_writing_skills.html

Social Studies and English/Language Arts

Yes they absolutely do, I can hold a conversation with a 10 year old, that's enough. We can invent convenient notation and vocabulary in a specialist field.

Art is totally unproductive. Which contributes more toward the development of society, a song or a cure for cancer?

"everything requires good writing skills... Scientists and mathematicians who make important discoveries need to have the writing skills necessary to convey their ideas, writing skills most of them will not have until they've at least finished their freshmen year of college, "

Nonsense. I like how you're just guessing and stating as fact because you've never even read an academic paper. For a mathematical paper, beyond specialist vocabulary that's developed in mathematics and not in an English class, all you need is "suppose", "consider", "let" and "where", that's honestly enough to convey just about any idea in a proof that you need.

In general conversation, if I want to say "I have to leave early, I have a dentist appointment at 2", "dentist at 2, early leave please" is good enough. The difference in every day speech of a 10 year old is upwards of 90% identical to an adult, I can hold any every day sort of conversation with just about any 10 year old. As I said, anything beyond an every day conversation will use specialist vocabulary that's developed in that specialist field, not in a general English class.

Answer me this, if you had to pick all of one of the following die, which would you have die: doctors, mathematicians, engineers, poets, chemists? You pick poets to die, because they aren't helping society anywhere close to 1% as much as any of the others.

Before I get into this, let me establish that art is needed in society. Without art, life would be meaningless. Science gives us the ability to extend our lives, but without the arts, we'd have no purpose to do so. Even those in the scientific community agree with me on this. "Life depends on the sciences but art makes it worth living." -John Martin, professor and medical researcher at the University College of London.

And now, onto all the other things you got wrong.

I don't care if you can hold a conversation with a 10 year old or not, I care if that 10 year old has the ability to read and understand complex ideas, and for the vast majority of 10 year olds, they do not, which is why they need English classes to help them develop the reading skills necessary to do so. Knowing "specialist vocabulary" does not even come close to qualifying you to write an academic paper.

And no, I am not just speculating, I know from experience. I am currently two years into my four year degree in Business & Economics, and I have had to read academic papers from in all of the following fields; history, ethics, psychology, and economics. These kinds of academic papers are not written at a level that most 10 year olds, or even most high school students, could understand. If you want to be able to even read those kinds of papers (much less write them yourself), your literacy needs to at a college level, and would you like to know the only way you can get up to that level? English classes.

I'm just done with you. This is maybe the third time I've had a conversation with you that's left me wanting to pull my hair out. You're arrogant and ignorant and you don't seem to realise it. You are literally repeating what I've refuted. A single quote is not a "scientific consensus", you can't quote some guy and then arrogantly move on to "And now, onto all the other things you got wrong." as if your quote stands alone as some totally convincing argument. I mean did you seriously think you'd ended the "science vs. art" debate with a single quote? Your argument is somehow circular, you start from the presumption that papers need to be written this way to a high standard of literacy (beyond necessary, specialist terms) without even an attempt at justification. We're not talking about an individual, we're talking about a society. We could drop the convention of writing papers this way, which is why I said a mathematical paper only needs the four words I gave, I didn't say it only included the four words I gave. We could easily drop the arbitrary convention of writing to a high literacy standard and ideas could still be communicated.

I'm going to have to block you. You're reasoning just too far below my level, we can never have a productive conversation because whatever I say is always going to go over your head. Try read back the conversation with this last comment in mind, you'll feel mighty stupid at the end of it.