Yes! Kudos to Richard Veit :

> Much of our debate about whether to teach grammar has centered on its
> utility, on whether it is a means to other ends such as improved writing
> skills.  We don't have the same debate about math or history or
literature,
> which are assumed to be inherently important.
>
> As with those disciplines, the best reason for studying grammar is for its
> own sake. The study of grammar gives us insight into the nature of
language
> and the structure of our minds. More area of our brains is devoted to
> language than to any other function. It is the indispensable,
> quintessentially human activity. ..................................
>  In ways no other discipline provides, it allows us to know ourselves.
What
> further justification does anyone need?

The Ancients had some good ideas about what "subjects" were worth studying.
They included subjects whose utilitarian value is lost on most of us today:
subjects like music, for example, which is much like language. How many
students are taught music theory? Why study any subjects if they have no
practical application?

Food for thought?

Paul E. Doniger
The Gilbert School