A good post, Eliezer, but it brings to mind that quote about the horse, and the water—you know the one I mean. In my college years (as a philosophy major) it because clear that there were students who actually went through the process of digesting, seeking broader context, checking out other sources, and so on. And there were students who were there to get a BA. I don’t recall either group doing much better or worse on exams, papers, etc. But perhaps this is more common in the humanities, where reading is the main activity, than in the sciences...
As far as high school goes, Robin’s point about the true purpose of school is on target—it’s obvious that the primary function of high school is keeping rowdy, hormonal, unstable adolescents under control and out of everyone’s way until they stop being crazy. Also as a way to fill space between extracurricular activities.
An FYI that does not address the substance of Eliezer’s post:
This woman was telling you the Norse creation myth, which is definitely one of the stranger ones I’ve heard: http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/creation.html. As a story, it lacks the rudimentary narrative cohesiveness most of us expect, having been exposed since childhood to the Christian “first there was light” story, which proceeds in a rather more linear manner. On the other hand, Norse myth is the basis of Tolkien’s Middle Earth, whereas the Christian myth has been responsible mainly for lots of paintings of Adam and Eve looking coyly at each other.