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

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.