Heinlein says I'm not a competent human?

[cellio]

I got this from filkerdave:

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. --Robert Heinlein

Let's see:

Change a diaper: I possess the theoretical knowledge. It would have to be really, really important before you'd get proof, though.

Plan an invasion: Sure, though I don't know how good the plan would be. But all that gaming experience has to be good for something, right? :-)

Butcher a hog: Nope, and not looking to change that.

Conn a ship: Nope.

Design a building: At what level of detail? I've helped specify one but didn't draw up the engineering diagrams, nor would I have had the right clues for materials requirements.

Write a sonnet: Not without a rules refresher. Maybe not even then. Now music, on the other hand...

Balance accounts: Yup.

Build a wall: For a suitably basic wall, yeah.

Set a bone: No one's ever asked me to and my first-aid card has expired, so I'll call that a "no".

Comfort the dying: I think so, though I'm pretty uncomfortable with it. (Aren't we all?) Ask again after the first session of the para-rabbinic program in a few weeks.

Take orders: Absolutely, but I have to believe the order-giver is in a position to do so.

Give orders: Yup, when necessary. The hardest part is establishing authority.

Cooperate: I like to think so.

Act alone: Frequently and I've been praised for the results, so yes.

Solve equations: Sure. I was doing that long before I was "supposed" to be. Mind, my knowledge of higher math (differential equations etc) is weak, but you didn't specify the domain. I grok algebra, basic calculus, and just plain logic.

Analyze a new problem: Don't we all? But yeah, I think I'm better than average at this.

Pitch manure: Um, I gather this involves more than applying first vertical and then lateral and then vertical motion to a shovel? Then I guess not. :-)

Program a computer: Yup.

Cook a tasty meal: Past guests have said so.

Fight efficiently: Probably. Martial arts and the real thing are pretty different, so I can't say for sure. And note that he said "efficiently", not necessarily "well". :-)

Die gallantly: If I say "no", does that get me off the hook for proving it? :-)

Comments

Re: MIT

[caryabend.livejournal.com]

MIT produces specialists. That's what it does, and that's what it's for. It does not think its job is to broaden its students minds.

My problem is the elitism that this fosters. The "I choose to do only this one particular thing" tends to promote the equally repugnant and useless response of, "So what good are you otherwise?" Thus exacerbating the "us vs. them" attitude on both sides.

Personally, I'm glad there are specialists, but its probably more important to have generalists who know when, where and how to use specialists to the greatest advantage.