"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."
-Lazarus Long, Time Enough for Love, by Robert A. Heinlein
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What else should a human be able to do?
18 comments:
Play a decent game of chess against their SO.
Change your baby's diaper.
I've seen a hog butchered. Lots in fact. Around the time a porcine fever hit the Domincan Republic in the late 70's.
The gov ordered all domesticated hogs killed.
Changing a diaper is a breze.
The powder step has been removed.
Depends on how big your baby is!
I have butchered a hog.
I felt sorry for the poor baby, but what are you gonna do?
What else should a human be able to do?
They also serve who only stand and wait.
--John Milton
Argue both sides of any issue on which he has an opinion.
Draw a map.
A paragraph that drove much of my life.
Organize a community (although that would fall under "plan an invasion" wouldn't it?)
Sew a button
Sharpen a blade
Write and publish
Invent something new
Parent a child
I would recommend that all human beings not consider the visionary sayings of science fiction writers as some kind of categorical imperative. It's possible to live a useful, happy life without ever once butchering a hog. In fact, I would say that one of the prerequisites of a useful, happy life is to negotiate its passages without ever having to butcher a hog. There's not much to be said for diaper changing either.
I bogged at the word "should", which led to a query regarding the book and author, which led to this from a reviewer:
His use of slang, technical jargon, sharp wit, and clever understatement lend this story a texture and authority that seems the very tone of things to come.
Argue both sides of any issue on which he has an opinion.
Yes, and do it well! Not sayin' that some people who go picking fights with me here or elsewhere can't even argue one side of an issue ...oh, hell, yes I am.
LOL. I had a college roommate from Mobile who was an outdoorsman who's only desire was 40 years of "huntin' and fishin'. " Got a degree in micro-biology and a job w. the La Dept of Game & Fisheries. Said: "If I can ever find a woman who can pitch a tent and row a boat, I'll marry her!" And he did! A horsewomen from rural Woodville Miss. A marriage made in heaven!
(PS, there are sweatshirts on that theme that throw in "scale fish" for good measure, LOL.)
Yes, and do it well! Not sayin' that some people who go picking fights with me here or elsewhere can't even argue one side of an issue ...oh, hell, yes I am.
I can and do understand the liberal side of most arguments, though I rarely espouse them. I assume that you phx are the flip side of me as I've rarely if ever heard you argue the conservative side of anything.
deliver a baby
understand the rhythm method
live off the land
Dance with or without music
Learn CPR
Know how to dispose of a dead human body.
Ron Padgett covers the topic from another angle in his nine page poem, How to Be Perfect in his book by the same name. Excerpted here
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