I think this is very good

[kimba1]

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/10-skills-you-need-to-succeed-at-almost-anything.html

not a bad idea at all

[Amianthus]

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 A. Heinlein

[kimba1]

write a sonnet, balance accounts,take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem

these might be on my list

and tasty meal is subjective
I like my food,but others hate eating things they can`t identified.

[Stray Pooch]

This is all very good.  I would add the ability to perform basic automotive maintenance, and that includes a good understanding of how a car works.  Cars are essential in our lives and get stranded on a road without knowing what to do can range from frustrating to life-threatening.  My son called me in a panic a few weeks ago because his car was dying on the road.  It was the middle of the night and the lights were flickering, the engine was dying and then surging, and he was on a busy street with traffic whizzing around him.  He managed to get home but begged me to come look at it in the morning.  He was thinking major repair or trade-in.  I was thinking new alternator.  It turned out to be a loose connection to the alternator.  It took literally about two seconds to fix. 

Under critical thinking, the ability to spot a fraud is vital.  I would also add reading a map properly and using a compass.

[fatman]

I agree with you pooch, I would also add the ability to grow a garden and rig a fishing rod.  Most of the others I can do, with the exception of conning a ship.  Of course, I think that I can do them, though I've never done a couple in practice (who would I invade, where?).  Pitching manure, I've definitely done, along with a few others.

[Xavier_Onassis]

I am not sure what conning a ship is. There were no ships in Missouri, where I grew up, and the boats I have been on here probably were too small to require anyone to "conn" them. I suspect that Heinlein included this because he knew how to conn a ship. I am sure that being able to purge a Diesel auto engine avails me much better. I have witnessed a hog being butchered, and  think I understand the idea behind hog butchery, but if and when I need to butcher a hog (I rarely see a live one and never have owned one) I will consult my Whole Earth Catalog.

[Plane]

I am not sure what conning a ship is. There were no ships in Missouri, where I grew up, and the boats I have been on here probably were too small to require anyone to "conn" them. I suspect that Heinlein included this because he knew how to conn a ship. I am sure that being able to purge a Diesel auto engine avails me much better. I have witnessed a hog being butchered, and  think I understand the idea behind hog butchery, but if and when I need to butcher a hog (I rarely see a live one and never have owned one) I will consult my Whole Earth Catalog.

You can con a river boat in Missouri as Mark Twain did.

It just means to take charge of the bridge , someone is always in charge even when the Captain sleeps the business of the ship goes on.

[Michael Tee]

<<Specialization is for insects.>>

Actually, it's been a necessary element of human civilization for my entire lifetime.  Myths of self-sufficiency date back to the days of the frontier and the settlement of the land by Europeans, but in fact in modern times it's a silly, romantic fantasy.  It's what sells SUVs to 40-year-old accountants to drive around city and suburban streets.

[Amianthus]

Myths of self-sufficiency date back to the days of the frontier and the settlement of the land by Europeans, but in fact in modern times it's a silly, romantic fantasy.  It's what sells SUVs to 40-year-old accountants to drive around city and suburban streets.

And yet, there are people who do live self-sufficient lives.

But of course, that's not the meaning of the quote anyway.

[Xavier_Onassis]

I am all for self-sufficiency. If I am sure I can fix something, I get all the info, buy the tools or find out where to borrow them, and learn on the job.  The next time will be easier. I will understand the job and I will have the tools.

I imagine that if I lived ten miles up a mountain from Boulder, I might have an SUV, too. But here in a flatt city, they are just dumb. They seem to be really cheap these days, too. All the car lots are full of them. Just sitting there, waiting for some self-sufficient guy to come along with a plan to refine his own gasoline.

[kimba1]

the even dumber part is afew of these SUV are incredibly underpower so they can`t even do the job thier marketed for.