I dont think it particularly matters that some of the questions asked right across the ppl syllabus are of no practical use for flying. The point is they demonstrate an ability to learn and reason. Useful attributes for any pilot IMHO
On that basis, why not memorise sections of the bible? There is, as we are regularly informed, a great deal of wisdom in there.
This is very much the "olde English" mindset... how to separate the real men from the sheep. It would be more productive to focus on how to turn out pilots who know how to plan a flight from A to B and do so safely.
How come the FAA has managed to cut out most of the cr*p, yet there is no evidence of more accidents in FAA-land, where incidentally the great majority of GA in the known universe operates.
I've done the standalone JAA and FAA PPLs, have clocked up about 700hrs since, done the IR, and flown as far in Europe as there is avgas to be found, and I reckon there is more really relevant stuff in the single FAA PPL exam than in the 7 JAA ones. The exam is not a pushover, even if you did the JAA stuff recently it takes a while to get through it. And then you have the FAA oral, to make sure you know it, which can be 1-2 hours.
The FAA PPL also contains some instrument nav stuff missing in the JAA PPL, so beware.
The FAA stuff is not a perfect solution for flight in Europe (because one has to dedicate a significant portion of one's swatting time to learn US airspace rules and VFR chart interpretations which are quite different to Europe) but it is still a lot more meaningful than JAA.