As a premed student at Washington University in St. Louis,
I had to take a difficult class in physics. One day our professor
was discussing a particularly complicated concept. A student
rudely interrupted to ask "Why do we have to learn this stuff?"

"To save lives." the professor responded quickly and continued
the lecture.

A few minutes later, the same student spoke up again. "So
how does physics save lives?" he persisted.

"It keeps the ignoramuses out of medical school," replied the professor.