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.