I ran across this article which listed attributes that should be possessed by young persons of age 21 (actually, the item specifies “young males,” but I disposed of the gender specificity). Among those attributes listed are the following:
[ul]
[li]Knowledge of how this country is run and how it got that way.[/li][li]Knowledge of the Federalist Papers and de Tocqueville, and of recent world history.[/li][li]Should be computer literate.[/li][li]Should know Hemingway from James Joyce.[/li][li]Should know how to drive a car well.[/li][li]Should know how to fly a light airplane. (?!?)[/li][li]Should know how to shoot well.[/li][li]Should know elementary geography, both worldwide and local.[/li][li]Should have a cursory knowledge of both zoology and botany.[/li][li]Should know the fundamentals of agriculture and corporate economy.[/li][li]Should be well qualified in armed combat, boxing, wrestling and judo, or its equivalent. (?!?)[/li][li]Should know how to manage a motorcycle. [/li][li]Should be comfortable in at least one foreign language.[/li][li]Should be familiar with remedial medicine.[/li][/ul]
Now, I’m well past 21, and I can only reasonably claim to have mastered nine and a half or so of these attributes (okay, I couldn’t tell Hemingway from Joyce if either or both walked up to me on the street and grabbed either or both of my ass cheeks, and, although I think I could manage the airplane, I was surprised to see it listed as an essential attribute for a 21-year-old. And the well-qualified-in-judo requirement is just f-ed up).
So, a poll for the Dopers:
[ul]
[li]How many of these could you manage?[/li][li]Which items seem completely impractical or unnecessary nowadays?[/li][li]What do you think should be added to complete the skill set of today’s 21-year-old?[/li][/ul]
My suggestions to update the list:
[ul]
[li]Should know how to protect oneself from sexually transmitted diseases.[/li][li]Should know how to sexually please one’s partner, and how to tell one’s partner what to do to pleasure oneself.[/li][li]Should be aware of one’s constitutional rights and civil liberties, and be prepared to assert them stridently when necessary.[/li][/ul]
Next?
That’s a good list if you want to be the very model of a modern major general. A very macho model of a modern major general, in fact.
I’m all for being a Renaissance Person, but what about learning how to deal with people and how to get a career started? That’s something on the minds of most 21-year-olds.
Including your updated list, I’m up to 11. The requirement for judo proficiency makes sense to me–it means that you’ve got some basic level of physical fitness, and that if things come down to the worst, you’ve got a chance of getting out without too much damage.
I’ll add a few that I think are important:[ul][li]Bench press half his bodyweight, and deadlift all of his bodyweight (bench 1/4 bodyweight and deadlift 3/4 bodyweight for girls).[/li][li]Run a ten-minute mile and be able to run further.[/li][li]Understand very basic mathematical arguments (at the very least, Euclid’s proof that there are infinite primes).[/li]Have some familiarity with popular philosophical schools of thought (Platonism, existentialism, and others as well-known as those).[/ul]Adding those in, I’m up to 12.5.
Should be able to swim.
Should be able to compose an essay that demonstrates clear thinking, without serious grammatical errors.
Should be able to cook several meals for self and at least one for company.
Should know rules and procedures for at least one team sport.
Should know how to play a few card games. Poker and Go Fish at minimum.
Should be able to manage the logistics of travel on her own continent (at a minimum), bonus for overseas travel.
At 21 I couldn’t fly an airplane or manage any kind of armed combat (or unarmed combat unless you could count extreme snarkiness). Still can’t.
Including the additions already made I’m counting 24.5, and I’m only a little past 21 myself… But then again, I had an interesting childhood
I’d say being able to fly, shoot, and manage a motorcycle are probably unnecessary nowadays… And the armed / unarmed combat requirement is debatable.
I’d have to add:
Able to operate basic kitchen and house appliances
Able to due laundry
Able to manage own finances
From my college experience it’s amazing how many people don’t possess those abilities.
And increasingly, perhaps a basic knowledge of the common world religions?
Does ‘this country’ refer to the native country of the author or that the young person is living in at the time? Do non-americans get out of the Federalist papers, de Toqueville requirements??
I don’t know how to drive a car well, and therefore I don’t drive a car at all.
I found an ability to sew a great boon in my younger years. Darning would probably be another good thing to learn, too.
The abililty to speak publicly should be on everyone’s list. I don’t mean rhetoric, I don’t mean everyone should be a toast master, but the ability to speak up at meetings, say, and be clearly understood is something everyon should know how to do.
How to communicate clearly in writing. Nothing fancy, they just need to know the difference between writing a text message, a cover letter, a business email, etc., and how to check their writing over for errors. You’d be surprised how many adults can’t express a clear message in writing, or how many can’t correctly spell the last name of the president of their company in a memo.
I have to say, I would prefer my child (or husband, for that matter) to know a lot of the things we’ve listed and have no idea how to fly, shoot, do judo, or ride a motorcycle than the other way around. I can’t get to the link at work, but the list seems a little archaic.
This came up on MeFi as an outgrowth of Heinlien’s quote from Time Enough for Love:
“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.”
The only thing I’m going to add to the “modern” list is “Know bullshit when you see it.”
Absolutely–and if they’re counting driving a car, motorcycle, and airplane separately, I think we can easily count as separate categories:
-Clean house
-Cook
-Manage finances
-Take care of children
-Take care of animals
-Manage a yard and garden
-Elementary household and car repairs
Of their list, I can stretch myself to nine. It’s a pretty silly list, IMO: why on earth should 21-year-olds need to know how to fly a plane, and for the love of God, do they really mean “and” in that list of armed combat styles? What does “well qualified” even mean? Where on that list is mathematics, logic, physics, religion, or philosophy? Why remedial medicine, but not preventive medicine?
“Should know how to fly a light airplane”. Yeah, I’ll be using that to fly to my polo matches. WTF?
Yet, one is only encourage to “manage a motorcycle”, an infinitely more useful skill.
Ever read De Tocqueville? Very, very dense prose. Sure there’s a good message in there, but in this day and age, De Tocqueville is much quoted but infrequently read.
Frankly, the author sounds like one of those survivalists, counting the days until the gummint collapses so as to reinstute the gold standard, the Bible as law, and white people as the chosen ones.
The original list is a good idea doomed by the stupidty of several entries (and its overall sexist premise I mean, really–flying a light airplane? Does the fricking author have an idea of what pilot lessons cost? How much a light plane costs? When is this average young man going to USE this skill? And, even though I’m a literature geek, I think most people can get along just fine not knowing bupkis about Hemingway and Faulkner and Joyce.
Obviously I’d ditch the light airplane requirement,and also the motorcycle; those are both luxuries. I’m not sure what he means by “remedial” medicine; I’m going to assume he means “emergency first aid.” I’ll agree with that young persons should learn about protecting themselves from sexually transmitted diseases. I’ll also echo your entry about constitutional rights & obligations, and add reasonable proficiency with guns. I also think a better grounding in maths–especially statistics–would be a good thing.
