I was thinking about this famous, and one of my favorite, quotes by Heinlein -
and started to wonder about what other skills everyone should have.
As for more skills that I think should be added:
Deliver a baby
CPR
The Heimlich Maneuver
How to use and maintain a pistol, a rifle and a shotgun (whether or not you are an American)
How to build a fire using a variety of methods and materials
How to sharpen and maintain blades
How to drive a stick shift
How to drive a motorcycle
How computers work, including a basic idea of how a program is written
Hoping to get this thread back on track, I think “planning an invasion” and “conning a ship”, while useful skills, are not really necessary, but reflect RAH’s military background. I would also have said, “design and build a simple building”, (given a supply of lumber and regular tools, provide you and yours with adequate, permanent shelter.) I do like Muad’Dib’s list. But I think many of Heinlein’s were examples of classes. “set a bone” could refer to general first aid, which today would include CPR and the Heimlich Maneuver. Of course I could be over generalizing.
Know to ask the Dope when you need to know something new.
Seriously, though, that quote has always bugged me. I’ll never be called upon to do half that stuff, and if I were, I could (and would) look it up. I’m hardly the poster child for specialization, but the myriad things I know are because, at one point or another in my life, they were actually useful to me.
A lot of Heinlein’s list seems to be influenced by the ideas behind Starship Troopers, specifically those recalling the Spartan ideal that only soldiers deserved full rights as citizens. He didn’t say “kill” (somewhat surprisingly), but he did say “give orders” and “take orders,” hinting at a belief that unquestioning obedience to authority is one of the basic building blocks of any civilization.
RAH was an Anapolis graduate. “Conning” a ship is navalese for giving rudder/engine orders.
Not the long term, “We’re going to sail for Portsmouth” but the minute-by-minute “Steer two points starboard so we can pass that freightter safely” stuff.
Nitpick: it wasn’t only soldiers specifically who got the vote in Starship Troopers, but “veterans”: anyone who had served society. I understood this to mean solders, civil servants, politicians, volunteers, perhaps even what we would call activists and members of NGOs… but not people who had only done what we would call “private life”. I suspect also that the vote was awarded only after they had finished their service, but I am not sure of this. The book was set during a major war, so of course there were a lot of soldiers around.
