I still have “write a sonnet” on my list, so as soon as I figure that one out I’ll get back to you on what else should be there.
Robert Anson Heinlein. He was an author, specializing in hard science fiction.
Oh, Heinlein. I’ve read a few of his stories.
And last time I checked* there were more insects in the world than there are humans (in terms of numbers and in terms of total poundage). Specialization isn’t necessarily so terrible.
OK, yes, we humans are generalists, but with civilization specialization has become more common and more important.
*Ok, so I haven’t actually checked, but I’m pretty sure it’s true.
Gotta say, that one’s not high on my list. I also, at 26 years of age, have never changed a diaper, but I bet I could figure it out if I had to.
I was going to add swim and drive stick to the list–two skills that a surprising number of adults are lacking.
Essential? For non-Americans? Why? And how would it be possible for everyone, in a non-gun-owning culture to acquire this skill without turning it into a gun-owning culture?
It’s not lacking if it’s not necessary.
I believe a lot of the responses here are going to be things that the posters themselves have experienced and think that everyone should know it because they have. Changing a diaper is not a skill everyone should have, unless they have a baby to take care of. Nor is speaking a foreign language, know how with firearms, etc…
Basic comprehension. Now that’s a skill everyone should have. So simple, yet so complicated for many.
Well rounded individuals must be able to:
-play a decent round of poker (and maybe bridge)
-operate a washing machine
-critique a game of football, soccer, basketball, or baseball
-kiss well
-discuss local politics
-entertain a child
-many things mentioned up-post
My parents were always saying, “You don’t know how to do X yet? That’s a life-skill!” and then teaching me how do do it. They had a big list of “life skills” but, of course, I’m now having trouble coming up with very many.
It’s interesting that this topic is supposedly about being a generalist, but is really just a list of specialisations; Heinlein’s list does include some general stuff (such as ‘analyze a new problem’).
So my suggestion is:
-Be able to say ‘how hard could it be?’
No, civil servants did not get the vote. Only those who had served in the Armed Forces. Notice that when Rico goes to enlist he’s told that if he says he wants to enlist they had to take him… if he was quadraplegic, blind, deaf and wanted to enlist, they’d have to take him and find some post for him.
You had to have been a private, and yes, the vote was obtained only once your term of service was over. This detail is mentioned when Rico goes officer.
I haven’t read it in years but dang I’ve read that book so many times I used to be able to quote whole paragraphs.
On another note: I’m not in the military, nor have I ever been, nor will I ever be (not eligible), but I’ve taken orders and given orders many times. When there’s a fire going, you need someone who says “thextinguisher!” and who gets instantly obeyed, not someone who says “excuse me, would you please bring an extinguisher after submitting the motion to a vote?”
Sure, but your service didn’t have to include soldiering as such - you could spend two years being a human guinea pig, or miner, or “counting the fuzz on a caterpillar by touch” (which was the hypotetical service of the blind, deaf quadriplegic in the doctor’s example). The point was, they had to take you, no matter what shape you were in (unless you were unable to understand what it meant to volunteer). And they had to find a use for you - they could not deny you the chance to earn a citizenship. But, and this is important, you did not get to chose what you were used for - they did, based on what was needed at the moment.
I still submit that everyone should know atleast two languages. That way (unless you are the only person left in the world who speaks your two languages), there is always an overlap - you could always build a “chain” of translators to comunicate with someone.
A good skill to have would be a mustache, and a sweet bike.
I agree. How many people listed something that they themselves don’t know how to do?
It’s impossible to come up with a list that applies to everyone. Drive a motorcycle? Why is that so important? (Except under convoluted and unlikely to occur scenarios.)
I have two major problems with lists such as this. There is an opportunity cost to learning something (you could spend the time learning something else, which would be more useful) and you need to be able to practice what you have learned or learning it is just a waste of time.
For example, I once learned how to tie many complicated knots as part of a boating course I took. I don’t have a boat, never needed to use those knots again, and forgot how to tie them pretty soon after the course ended.
I am going to reduce the whole list to just 4 things…
-
Know how to get along with other humans - to socialize and live in a society. This is a very large category and there are many different styles and methods for going about it with varing levels of success.
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Know how to think critically and problem solve.
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Know how to find information.
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Know how to specialize in SOMETHING. After all, the economy and civilization would fall apart as we know it if no one specialized at all. The same person would be just as useful doing brain surgery as they would sweeping floors. But no one would have the time for any of that since we would be to busy hunting our own food, building our own shelters and seeking out drinkable water. Specialization is the foundation of modern advancements, technology, and society. In fact, even neanderthals had specialization within their clans. We’d be back living as primitively as they did without specialization.
If you can do those 4 things, you should be able to make it through life in a modern society.
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Read a book.
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Write a letter.
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Listen.
Aside from, maybe, the computer bit, I don’t know how to do any of the things I listed. I started this thread to get ideas on new things I should learn.
Swim. It can save your life!
You’re mistaken, I believe. Rico’s friend Carl joins the research and development corps – at best, that’s perhaps a quasi-military function. But more telling is the H&MP class Rico takes in OCS, which has this exchange:
Is that a Heinlein quote or a quote of his character Lazarus Long? It sounds like something he had Long say.
I cannot write a sonnet and I probably could not fight efficiently, I can do the rest.
It is a good list, why argue with the master. 
Jim {Two Heinlein threads at once, woohoo! Is it his birthday?}
The quote is from The Notebooks of Lazarus Long, I believe. Originally it was marginalia in Time Enough For Love.
Nope. The Master’s birthday is July 7.