Heinlein

[chuckro]

Robert Heinlein: "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."

Of those, I am very certain I can (because I have already done): Write a sonnet, balance accounts, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, and cook a tasty meal.

I am moderately certain that, if called upon, I could: Build a wall, comfort the dying, pitch manure, and die gallantly.

With a little training (as I have the basic required skills), I could probably manage: Change a diaper, butcher a hog, and program a computer.

I would need extensive training/practice to: Plan an invasion, conn a ship, design a building, or fight efficiently.

What about you?

Comments

[edgehopper.livejournal.com]

Using your categories:

Of those, I am very certain I can (because I have already done): Write a sonnet, balance accounts, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, program a computer, and cook a tasty meal.

I am moderately certain that, if called upon, I could: Build a wall, comfort the dying, pitch manure, and die gallantly.

With a little training (as I have the basic required skills), I could probably manage: Change a diaper, butcher a hog, design a building, and plan an invasion.

I would need extensive training/practice to: Conn a ship, or fight efficiently.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Why a ship, I wonder? Why not say, "Fly a plane"?

Also, how big a boat are we talking here? I mean, I drove a motorboat this weekend - not too hard. Should I be able to steer a yacht? A cutter? A tanker? An aircraft carrier?

I guess this one just stuck out for me. Most of these are things that any person should be able to do to be a functional adult (balance accounts, diaper a baby). Some of them are things that we'd want everyone to be able to do in the event of a major disaster (fight efficiently, slaughter a hog), even if it's inapplicable to daily life.

But for the conning a ship, or to a lesser extent, planning an invasion - I can't think of a reason why you would ever expect every human to be able to do those things. They are specialist occupations by nature. While I can see how someone might be called unexpectedly to do such a thing, I can think of other activities of a similar level. I feel like you'd need as much training, and have more cause to use, to deliver a baby by Caesarian section. I mean, the fundamentals are pretty clear, as are the fundamentals of ships and strategy. But that doesn't mean that the details wouldn't totally fuck everything up without someone having proper training.

And under what circumstance would you expect everyone to be able to plan an invasion well? To invade, you need a fairly substantial force. But only one to a handful of those people need actually plan it. You don't really want everyone available trying to do it.

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

I just pulled the quote exactly as I found it. If suppose if I were making the list, I'd probably put "drive a car", as that's a more critical skill to modern everyday life.

I think I was also presuming that a few of these were "hitchhiker's towel" skills. If you know how to butcher a hog, then you can probably butcher most large animals and know a decent amount about dressing and preserving meat. If you can plan an invasion, then you know how to coordinate large groups of people, how to choose the best of a series of bad options, etc.

Though I suppose if I was making a list of all the skills a well-rounded person should have, I'd add in a bunch of things like: Swim 100 yards, sew a button or affix a patch, start a campfire, tie secure knots, clean and dress a wound, navigate by map, and know when to ask for help.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

I used to know how to change diapers...

[cubby-t-bear.livejournal.com]

I have already:

Balanced accounts, built a wall (a most messed up crooked wall, but a wall nonetheless), taken orders, given orders, cooperated, acted alone, solved equations, analyzed problems, pitched manure (my parents generally did not give us chores. However, when they felt remorse about this, they tended to go overboard), programmed a computer.

I'm fairly sure that with just a bit of work (no more than 1 year of lifespan of training and practice), I could learn to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog (most messily), conn a ship, design a building, set a bone, comfort the dying, fight efficiently, and perhaps die gallantly (one can never know about this last til it's put to the test, something I desire to delay).

I'm sure that it would take a minor act of God for me to write a sonnet or cook a tasty meal.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Ok, I can teach you to diaper a baby in 15 minutes, max. It's not actually hard. Maybe a little yucky, but not difficult.

They never said that the tasty meal had to be elaborate, or even that it had to be dinner. Or from scratch. Can you make scrambled eggs? Pancakes-from-a-box? Noodles and sauce? Grill hot dogs? Make sandwiches?

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking some cooking lessons are in order the next time you're in NJ for an extended period. I want to be responsible for a minor act of God.

[maydove.livejournal.com]

If writing sonnets you find much too hard,
then think of them as mathematical,
and rather than a minor act of God,
a patterned string of rhythmic syllables!

[cubby-t-bear.livejournal.com]

:-P Full points, Winter!

[maydove.livejournal.com]

Yay! I can use those points for, uh, things! Things that are good!
(Minor technicality: I'm Autumn until December 21. :P)

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Have done: changed a diaper, written a sonnet, balanced accounts, built a wall, comforted the dying, taken orders, given orders, cooperated, acted alone, solved equations, analyzed a new problem, cooked a tasty meal, fought efficiently.

Could do, with some minor adjustments: butcher a hog, pitch manure, program a computer

Could do if I cheated a helluva lot: plan an invasion (does it count if I'm planning against one? Because I've already planned for zombies); conn a ship (a raft! a canoe!); design a building (I've done it with Legos!); set a bone (I'm going to set it down over there. Away from me); and die gallantly (I'm saving that one).

[lithoglyphic.livejournal.com]

All these depend on scale. I played Capture the Flag as a kid. That's not the same as planning an invasion. Or is it?

That said...

[lithoglyphic.livejournal.com]

Have done: change a diaper, write a sonnet, design a (small) building, balance (small) accounts, solve equations, analyze a new problem, cook a tasty meal

Haven't done but confident anyone could in a pinch: butcher a hog, build a wall, pitch manure, set a bone, comfort the dying

Haven't done but especially confident in my abilities: plan an invasion, design a (large) building, balance (large) accounts, program a computer

Haven't done and hesitant in my abilities: conn a ship, fight efficiently, die gallantly

Too general for comment: take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone.

Re: That said...

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

I find it interesting that you think anyone could handle butchering, wall-building and bone-setting. I suspect this means you have a higher opinion of your fellow man than I do, rather than a misjudged sense of how difficult it is to do these things well.

For instance, I'm pretty sure I could, in time, remove all of the useful meat from a pig. This would probably take me a full day and there'd be some really problematic cuts in there; keeping in mind that I know how to cook and cut up meat regularly. Likewise, I've build a stage wall as a setpiece; all that required was basic knowledge of power tools and the ability to measure. But that wall had to last for a weekend and never bore any weight, which is different from building a wall solid enough to be part of a structure.

Re: That said...

[lithoglyphic.livejournal.com]

I think if you were starving and the only thing between you and a nice pork tenderloin was some skin and gristle, you'd figure out where to cut. Granted, a butcher could do it much better, faster, prettier... but I wasn't assuming any such standard of quality. Ditto wall-building and bone-setting.

Maybe it's because I grew up with a set of Foxfire Books in the house that I think things people did routinely two centuries ago should still be obvious... I don't know.

You may very well be right on some of these things being more difficult than I am considering them... would hate to cut a major blood vessel while setting a bone, and am now completely creeped out because I hadn't thought about that as a possibility.

Why is build a fire not on Heinlein's list?

Re: That said...

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

Why is build a fire not on Heinlein's list?

Haven't a clue. I certainly think it should be, given that most people don't seem to understand how to do it without using lighter fluid.

Re: That said...

[fyrna.livejournal.com]

I could do it without lighter fluid. But I'd need a match.

Re: That said...

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

Oh, doing it without a match is painful and time-consuming under the best of circumstances. Like building a debris hut, it'd be a useful skill if civilization crumbled but I'd rather never use it again.

I'd say the ideal is needing one match. Mostly because I managed that for two fires in a row a few months ago, after not building a fire for years.

[bigscary.livejournal.com]

I have: Written a sonnet (terrible), balanced accounts, taken orders, given orders, cooperated, acted alone, solved equations, analyzed new problems, cooked tasty meals, built walls, done light manure-pitching (just one goat, just a day's accumulation), done as well as I could in comforting the dying, changed diapers, programmed computers.

I have experience relating to: Designing a building, butchering a hog (breaking down large cuts and large fowl, cleaning fish).

I hope I could, without training: Die gallantly.

If asked to manage neither strategy nor tactics, I could probably chip in effectively on invasion logistics.

I'm not even sure what "fight efficiently" means. Fire discipline? Energy-conserving martial arts?

[bigscary.livejournal.com]

Missed: Set a bone. Well, I've read the first aid instructions on how to do so, but I'm probably a good candidate only as an alternative to imminent death.

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

I was assuming "fight effeciently" was "fight with some demonstration of skill and/or planning", as opposed to the schoolyard random flailing pretty much anyone can do. I can throw a solid punch and fire a rifle with some accuracy, but that doesn't mean you'd want me backing you up when the MEN WITH GUNS came to steal your stuff.

[(Anonymous)]

We all know that I can change a diaper and fight efficiently (with no weapon other than my wit), and I've had some bones set, so I know I can't do that and I wouldn't want to. I'm fine on cooking an tasty meal, shoveling shit, and designing a building (library). Write a sonnet (yup), balance accounts (yup, although I pretend I can't, I do manage the $4 million library budget VERY efficiently), and I sure can take and give orders (emphasis on the latter.) I did comfort Grandpa Nick when he was dying, I'm great alone, analyzing problems, and building walls, having memorized my Robert Frost. The problem comes with butcher a hog-- why bother when we have a perfectly good Waldbaums and I vastly prefer spinach?-- and conn a ship, which I don't even understand. The BIG issues, however, are solve equations and program a computer. I can't even program my cell phone.
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[beastin.livejournal.com]

Things I have done: Pitch manure, write a sonnet, balance accounts, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, cook a tasty meal, build a wall, change a diaper, and program a computer.

Things I think I could do: Butcher a hog.

Things I am not presently competent to do: Plan an invasion, conn a ship, design a building, and fight efficiently.

Who knows: Comfort the dying and die gallantly.

[xannoside.livejournal.com]

I have definitely: wrote a sonnet, balanced accounts, built a wall, comforted the dying, took orders, gave orders, cooperate, acted alone, solved equations, analyzed a new problem, programmed a computer, cooked a tasty meal, fought efficiently.

I believe I could: change a diaper, butcher a hog, pitch manure, and die gallantly.

I would need training to: plan an invasion, conn a ship, design a building, set a bone.