> If not, of course they aren't motivated. Most of them won't be using calculus in their daily life, they don't see it as valuable.

But that's my point, and I'm attempting to bolster the original article's point. I have a room full of calculus students, many of whom don't terribly need or want to learn calculus.

Then why are they there? In many cases you can trace this back to some ambition for which calculus is a prerequisite for some reason or other. But in many cases, they are there because they feel they are "supposed" to be there, or else they feel that a college degree will get them a better job.

Hence the concerns about a bubble.