Nov 03 2008
The Generation that Lost It
“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.”
Time Enough For Love, Robert Heinlein
Some of the skills Heinlein proposed as necessities may be outmoded or unlikely to be called on — after all, how many of us would ever be called on to plan an invasion or conn a ship? The basic idea — that humans should have a basic set of survival skills, will never go out of date. But we now live in a society in which we can pay others to do things for us. We either don’t have the ability to do those things for ourselves, or we don’t have the time. We’ve also been taught that most of the things that need to be done in this world require formal learning, degrees or certificates, and membership in professional or trade organizations.
Grandparents no longer hand down their skills, because most of those skills are out of date. Parents don’t pass down skills because they don’t have any. And the current generation lives in a state of learned helplessness about anything but amusement and spending money.
What have you learned over a lifetime that could sustain you in a real emergency? If the electricity goes out for long periods — or forever? How would you feed yourself, stay warm in the winter, clothe yourself? What would you do if someone in your family became sick, with no doctors or medicines available?
There are many skills that I should have learned along the way and didn’t. I don’t know how to resuscitate someone who’s stopped breathing, though television has showed me how it’s done. Would that be adequate in an emergency? I don’t know. And how much does television teach that we can actually use? In his book, On Writing, Stephen King talked about being part of the last generation of writers before TV. Maybe he’s also part of the last generation to learn practical skills.
2 Responses to “The Generation that Lost It”
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I can’t tell you the times I’ve thought about what we would do if…..? I think about setting up gray water systems, installing a generator or solar batteries (we have a small solar system but are still hooked up to the grid for the other half of our electric needs). These worries are what led us to ramp up our gardening efforts…we may end up in the dark but at least we’ll be able to eat!
Oh I’ve learned so much on tv, vise things learned growing up. I’m hoping what I teach my own children help them and that they don’t have to learn it just from technology.