[madmanslitany]

I do think that some more real-world and unstructured experience added into standard schooling would do some good, but I sometimes think there's an odd anti-schooling bias on HN, maybe because we all hated high school.

Another common theme on HN is how the lack of basic science knowledge amongst the voting population negatively impacts funding of and perception of science policy. Is advocating that we abolish general schooling and have everyone just learn what they need for their jobs a good idea? How does that fix that problem? Doesn't it just make it worse?

Tweak the schooling model, yes, but I've not been convinced yet that any of the radically different alternatives I see proposed here would still accomplish some of the important things that general schooling DOES do. Everyone hates certain subjects, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be forced to learn them at least once in your life.