The recent long thread about generator bonding got me to thinking. I know, a dangerous pastime. There was a brief mention of electrons and how they move thru atoms to create current. And I was a bit surprised that I remembered most of what I learned over 50 years ago. The more I thought about it the more I realized that things I studied in school, both public school and college, and how I wondered why I had to study that because it would be of no use later on. I was wrong. I was not a great student. But….
When I see a news story related in some way to some historical event, I understand that story because I studied it long ago. When I read some story maybe about controversial things in government, I remember some history about how the basis for those questionable things originated and I become more interested.
I may read some seemingly irrelevant story about some animal, or insect, or even a plant, and I grow more interested because I suddenly remember studying about that in high school biology.
I wondered why I had to take algebra and trigonometry and calculus. But over the years I used what I had learned to calculate unknown values and angles when doing some projects involving woodworking or metal work that were not all straight lines.
Chemistry? Who, other than some scientist, would ever need that. But later I realized I could understand statements about things in our natural world where otherwise I would not have had a clue.
Things as varied as pressure/heat relationship, causes of weather events and patterns, solid/liquid/gas relationships and interactions, materials actions related to temperature, space and the interaction of planets, stars, and galaxies, and the list goes on.
Had I known then what I know now I would have paid more attention. Sorry about the long musings of an idle mind.
