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"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"
Have a nice one'
Gabriel
Lazarus Long from Robert A. Heinleins' "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"
You are describing a hungry Engineer with children and a garden who lives by the sea who survived his time in the services with and advanced field first aid. Dont know about the die gallantly bit though - think I would give that a miss.
Isaac Asimov wrote the '3 Laws of Robotics';
'1: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2: A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.'
Of course, he omitted the necessity to program the darned things so that they knew just what injure or harm would mean.
Nevertheless, if you changed the wording to replace 'robot' with 'human being', it provokes some thought.
I believe he actually meant that as a message. His inability to deal with the callowness of humanity was a shortcoming. Most of his writings had hero types doing the 'right thing' and often whole populations following suit.
Nice to dream tho'.
I think I can do all the above less cooking and dying gallantly. As a matter of fact I absolutely refuse to die, PERIOD.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gabriel
Certainly these are all really important skills, but I think if you are good enough at pitching manure, you can fake most of them.
Perhaps that was Heinlein's message slgrieb!
Being from Texas, you should know the old expression. "Bullsh't Baffles Brains Every Time".
Of course, that was Texas years ago, and they hung cow thieves in those days, so I take it with a grain of salt.
Ah, CCT, you're confused. It's hang horse thieves, shoot rustlers. In fact, there are some parts of the state where this is still the rule. Some of the big ranches in the state still prefer to handle these matters themselves instead of using "due process". Particularly true on the Border.
Here's a funny story (also true) about an old rancher near Lubbock who had a whooping crane problem. He walked out one morning to get in his pickup, and saw a whooping crane perched on the cab. The bird had defecated all over his windshield, so he scared the crane away and cleaned the windshield. As it turns out, there is something about whooping crane poo that prevents easy removal, and is amazingly odoriferous . Still, the rancher dealt with it, and went on about his business.
Well, next morning, the rancher found the same bird perched on his truck, and once again, it had made a mess all over his windshield. This time the old man went back in the house, got his shotgun, came back outside, and shot the crane. Since there's no sense in letting game go to waste, he plucked the bird and cleaned it in the trash barrel in his yard, then had his wife cook it for supper.
During the night, the wind blew some feathers down the road to a neighbor who recognized them (rumor has it that he was some kinda California tree-hugger) and reported the old man to the law. He was soon arrested and tried.
At the close of his trial, the judge said that the rancher had committed a terrible crime by killing an endangered animal, and the penalty would be hard. "There's just one thing I have to know before I pass sentence," said the judge, "how did it taste?"
"Well, your Honor," replied the rancher, "the only way I can describe it is sort of like a cross between a California Condor and a Bald Eagle."
LOL not bad.
And why don't native peoples make cermonial headresses out of Starling feathers anyway?
Any self-respecting corporation should be able to convince you through advertising that you are not competent to perform any of these skills or should be able to prevent you from performing them by lobbying government to pass laws restricting those who can perform these skills solely to employees of the the corporation so that what you once could do for yourself for free you must now either pay the corporation to perform or pay taxes to the government who will contract the performance of the skills out to the corporation.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gabriel
Have a nice one, too.
:)
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It is my pure and virtuous heart that
gives me the strength of ten!
You will also have to deal with the nanny state,PC Brigade,Health & Safety, a licence will be required to kill the hog. You will need a yachmasters certificate to conn the boat. Planning permission and building reg. approval. Makes you want to die gallantly. You are already fighting a war.