So, are you 100% convinced that algebra has a firm place in our curriculum after reading that list? Before we talk about that, I would like to ask you, the reader, a few questions. When is the last time you used algebra in your daily life? And I don't mean to pass tests or exams, but in your own life. Have you ever casually picked a paper and written down

If I asked you the same thing for language, science, or history, I am sure it would be quite different; no matter how uninterested or weak you were when you studied those things, you could definitely cite a number of times when that knowledge helped you, or could have helped you if you could only recall it. Many of you must have, at numerous different points of your life, spent your leisure time watching or reading a National Geographic report, or wondered how something worked and searched about it, or read historical novels, etc, but have you ever dabbled into algebra again just for fun or general knowledge? I seriously doubt it.

So, if no one is using algebra, why is it being taught? I am obviously not the first person to ask such a question; everyone does at some point, but how many get answered? And how many get ridiculed? Which brings me to the next point: algebra seems to be, at once, the most unpopular yet the most defended subject. I find it very interesting that the same people who never even use algebra in their lives will fiercely defend the subject if it is ever challenged. A look at any popular forum where algebra has been questioned shows us very strong responses which range from mocking the asker's age to simply telling them they have to do it because it is essential but without giving a single real-life example of how the answerers themselves use it. Perhaps, they, too, are alarmed because it is a very unpleasant thought that a major part of our curriculum is wholly unnecessary; many of them have children who ask them the same questions which they can not answer any better than: do it because you have to; do it if you want to complete your education and make it in life. Who can blame them?