March 10, 2004
The Heinlein Olympics, or, a new "Survivor"?
A week ago, I referenced a famous, widely disseminated Heinlein quote, since I think it deserves even wider dissemination. My friend James sent me this note yesterday, which I reprint here with permission:
Hi Russell,How are you doing? So I read this oft-quoted quote from Heinlein on your website (yes, I do drop in semi-regularly):
"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 was thinking about it while sitting in traffic on the way to work and I had a vaguely entertaining idea:
It sounds like the basis for something kind of like a "Heinlein Olympics". Imagine a three-day event, a polymath decathalon of sorts, where one competes in a series of wildly divergent pursuits (like the quote suggests). The person with the highest aggregate score across all the challenges wins.
If done right, I would be willing to bet it could be a both popular and highly entertaining event, and because it would nominally cover such a broad range of tasks would have something for just about anyone who cared to try.
Just a thought, feel free to use or abuse as you see fit.
j. andrew rogers
Interesting idea. I ran this by the members of the smith2004-discuss list, one of who made the observation that this would make for a vastly superior "Survivor" style television series. I concur with a couple of list members that the above list would be a good start... with the exception of the last list item.
Posted by Russell Whitaker at March 10, 2004 09:56 AM | TrackBackThis reminds me a little of "The Game" from Piers Anthony's Phaze series. The game is for two people, and it consists of first playing a meta-game, whose outcome determines which game will be played. So to be good at the game, you must be good at a wide variety of different kinds of competition - which include acting, writing poetry, music performance, and many more conventional games and sports.
Its not as focused on "useful skills for life", but still a little similar.
Posted by: Patri Friedman on March 10, 2004 12:48 PMSounds like it'd be a great show, plus it would bring the layperson into contact with some of Heinlein's ideas. Since the list was meant to touch on a range of everyday items a human should be competent in, they could even group some tasks together within one overall task.
Hell, I'd be game to try. I've always thought about making a list of those items and ticking them off as I accomplish something new. S'funny, but the guy I'm getting driving lessons from (shouldn't learning to drive stick really be on the list too?) has actually learned to conn a ship. Cost him nothing too, as he was a crewman at the time. Would cost thousands for that opportunity now.
Take the chances while you can get them is the moral.
James...
I've always thought this would make an excellent set of college courses.
Some private college would have to put it together as there is no way some gov funded rat hole would be able to get this by all the special interest groups.
Posted by: Big Bitchen Warren on March 15, 2004 10:56 AM