3 ms·
I don't think it needs 'updating' much, but there are a few oversights in the original. Heinlein has 'write a sonnet', but doesn't say anything about reading a
by webmaven 5y ago
I don't think it needs 'updating' much, but there are a few oversights in the original.
Heinlein has 'write a sonnet', but doesn't say anything about reading a book, or writing a letter or essay (and no, those skills are not implied).
As for setting a bone, that can be important if you are far from help, but resuscitation is a more urgently needed skill, and needed more often.
I'd also add in 'communicate wordlessly', 'learn a language', 'teach a skill', 'sketch an idea', 'negotiate honestly', 'spot a swindle', 'make a friend', 'speak publicly', 'improvise', 'follow the rules', 'stand up to authority', and possibly a few others that Heinlein missed or skipped.
In terms of actual updates, skills that an omnicompetent today would have that weren't really a thing 50 years ago for the general public, the ones I can come up with are mostly things like 'evade surveillance', 'communicate privately', and 'buy contraband', and a few that just reflect the democratizing effect computers have had on various skills that used to be extremely specialized and non-computer-related like 'take a good photo', 'edit a video', and 'publish globally'.