I agree with this. A less tactful way of explaining it:
"When am I ever going to use calculus in my life??"
You? Probably never. But we're teaching everyone on the off chance that one of you goes on to do something useful with it. Enabling that one person to find a way to make rockets more efficient or something is well worth the tradeoff of wasting the rest of the class's time, from a societal point of view.
Something like that did happen in one of my classes and the kids who didnt want to learn it said "why dont you just teach [ smart kid ] then? If anybody is gonna design rockets itll be him.
The problem with this way is that calculus is needed to get through, like, a basic engineering degree, I assume economics if you are doing it with any rigor. I suspect these aren't like careers for the top 1% braniac kids, they are normal B+ student fields (I mean I know everyone gets straight A's in highschool now, but you know what I mean).
Colleges attract big fish from small ponds, but most small ponds have small fish. Realistically, only big fish will have the attitude and aptitude to become something as advanced as rocket designer.
Funny as that comic is, it's very unclear at a young age, and even when they're a bit older it's far from obvious. Even at first degree stage, some of the apparently best qualified teenagers who turned up for their first classes this week are going to flunk out anyway, and some of the kids who struggled and seemed like they'd be lucky to get their degree will be potential Fields Medal winners in 10-15 years. Their prior record, even now they're adults, is at best somewhat predictive and nowhere close to definitive.
Who will grow up to routinely do calculus mentally or on pencil and paper? I guess some people will be calculus instructors. Are there any other examples?
"When am I ever going to use calculus in my life??"
You? Probably never. But we're teaching everyone on the off chance that one of you goes on to do something useful with it. Enabling that one person to find a way to make rockets more efficient or something is well worth the tradeoff of wasting the rest of the class's time, from a societal point of view.