[m_the0ry]

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The specific stuff that needs to be learned is logic, (syllogisms, fallacies, truth tables) probability, including permutations and combinations and basic statistics, and some algebra, especially turning word problems into equations. Calculus, physics, and similar things are very good things to learn as well but for most people only because it helps train the brain.

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Thank you.

So if you can solve any problem that might show up on the math and analytical reasoning portions of the ACT/SAT/GRE then you have learned "the stuff that needs to be learned"? I can do that and calculus and physics and some other stuff and still feel inadequate.

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That's a sign that you desire more knowledge on the subject; this is a very good thing. I think you're overestimating the average person's knowledge of math.

This problem stems from inflation in the communication arts. Communication skills are incredibly important regardless of field but it is easy to forget that they are always highly specialized for the field of interest. For example, the communication skills of a technician will be wildly different from the communication skills of a religion researcher or a journalist. Without going on a rant ripping on the concept of an 'english degree', I would argue that the value of semantic skill - writing well without saying anything of interest - is far overdramaticized by the current education model at least in the United States. Rhetoric is worthless for a good three quarters of communication applications. Yet it is taught with incredible force while math is considered a 'secondary skill'. This is a flawed model that gives people in general education the idea that math is not valuable.

Temporarily ignoring my daily interactions with engineers and businesspeople, I'd say that more than half the people I talk to would have no idea how to integrate a function and couldn't define orthogonality if asked. While that says nothing about the mean it does at least say the median falls in a depressing place. People don't care about math, and they don't want to hear about it. They're programmed this way by general education.

It sounds to me like you already know what's worth knowing. I would strongly recommend linear algebra as it is the junction point for applying math you already understand to higher dimensional (and thus 3 dimensional real space) applications.