Eric came up with a great Heinlein-themed idea. First, list Heinlein's examples of the accomplishments that distinguish a [generalist] human from a [specialist] insect. Then identify the ones he has actually done. He solicited comments, but I thought this would make a great "meme" game.

First, the original 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.

I have taken the list, as broken out by Eric, and bolded the items I have actually done (with explanatory notes in most cases).

• Change a diaper
(More than I care to remember.)

• Plan an invasion
(But only if computer strategy games count!)

• Butcher a hog
(Does gutting and cleaning fish count?)

• Conn a ship
(Actually, a ski boat, but who's counting?)

• Design a building
(My kids' play fort at our old house...)

• Write a sonnet
(High school English class assignment.)

• Balance accounts


• Build a wall


• Set a bone


• Comfort the dying


• Take orders
(Not military, just corporate hierarchy).

• Give orders
(Ditto.)

• Cooperate


• Act alone


• Solve equations
(Did great with basic calculus, but foundered upon the rocks of the 8:00AM Differential Equations "weed-out" class at UT-Austin).

• Analyze a new problem
(A typical day in the life of an in-house lawyer).

• Pitch manure


• Program a computer
(BASIC, PROLOG, PASCAL, HTML, CSS)

• Cook a tasty meal


• Fight efficiently
(Not too good at fighting. I tend to talk my way out of things. I am in good shape, and am sure I could be a sheepdog if the time came.)

• Die gallantly
(Not yet!)

I'm gonna tag Robert, The Maximum Leader, Chan, Lynn, and Ted with this one but relieve them of any expectation to pass it along further, unless they want to.

Posted by: JohnL at 09:53 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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