More exactly, a Woodrow Wilson Smith Man. In Time Enough for Love, Smith offers a partial list of things a human bean should be able to do:

Including the last (I can think of no way to test this after the fact), I score 11/21 on the Heinleinometer. That's 52%, although I cheated today and used a calculator (Maybe "using a calculator" is another skill, though). And are there other essential skills that The Master of Science Fiction missed?

(To get in the mood, I suggest playing the theme from The Magnificent Seven in the background as you work)

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The Devil offered me power. I told him I preferred aperture.

Hell yeah! I score 100%!!!

ETA: But I'll admit that I've been reading a lot of William Gibson lately, I must confess.

ETA: I recommend listening to Five Man Army, a great Ennio Morricone score, to get in the mood!

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"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge" -- Charles Darwin

change a diaper - no experience, I'll say no, though it looks straight forward
plan an invasion - does Risk and Civilization III count? - I'll say yes
butcher a hog - no
conn a ship - no
design a building - HO scale, sure - yes
write a sonnet - do dirty haiku count? - no
balance accounts - yes
build a wall - yes
set a bone - yes
comfort the dying - no real experience
take orders - yes
give orders - not as well, but sure
cooperate - yes
act alone - yes
solve equations - trig or 3rd order differentials? - yes
analyze a new problem - daily
pitch manure - is that really a skill? - yes
program a computer - yes, though not so hot with visual languages or HTML
cook a tasty meal - yes
fight efficiently - no, my fighting is very inefficient - no
die gallantly - I'd rather not, but thanks for the offer.

14 / 21 = 67%, with fudging +/- as described

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At night the stars put on a show for free (Carole King)

For the record, I am NOT mocking the theme from The Magnificent Seven. Great Elmer Bernstein score.

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The Devil offered me power. I told him I preferred aperture.

Change a diaper. In 27 seconds I can have a poopy baby wiped, diped and ready for smooching.

Plan an invasion, yes.

Butcher a hog, yes.

Conn a ship, yes

Design a building, no.

Write a sonnet, yes

Balance accounts, I have no accounts or more correctly, am no-account.

Build a wall, yes.

Set a bone, no.

Comfort the dying, yes. But not as many times as my father, who was a first responder, (police)

Take orders, yes

Give orders, yes, and well too.

Cooperate, yes.

Act alone, yes.

Solve equations, only got as high as Algebra II. But I enjoyed the class and got an "A"

Analyse a new problem. Uh? Let me analyse what they are asking for here...

Program a computer. (Heinlien's main time was before VCR's wasn't he?) Sure it was in BASIC but the computer did what I wanted.

Cook a tasty meal, hell yeah!

Fight efficiently, I have in the past. But age is a deceiver and it may not be the case anymore. Still and all I used to be able to kick people in the face who grabbed me from behind, if that tells you anything. Always a surprise as I don't look like I should be able to do that. On two different occasions my assailants actually looked behind them thinking someone else had hit them.
That and I'm a damn good shot with pistol, rifle and shotgun.

Die gallantly. Oooo a question frought with the pitfalls of hubris for the still living.. that's best done as an observation, not a prediction.

Here a couple back at Heinlien

Avoid self-rightousness.

Even if you have the power, try not to engage in fascism Starship Troopers, Moon is a Harsh Mistress (As per wiki's definition of Fascism, first paragragh, not the Ad Hom, fascist)

Try not to take yourself too seriously.

Fricken laugh once in a while.

Paint yourself up for Halloween

Check into a hotel surreptitiously under an assumed name. With your wife.

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"The beauty of that discussion of averages is that you don't have to be an expert in Apollo or in photography in order to see where this time study "analysis" breaks down. You just have to be, well...not an idiot." -JayUtah

change a diaper - Probably.
plan an invasion - I guess so.
butcher a hog - Too gross.
conn a ship - Not a good leader.
design a building - Yes.
write a sonnet - Yes
balance accounts - Probably
build a wall - Yes
set a bone - Yes
comfort the dying - I guess
take orders - Sure
give orders - Just as long as lives aren't at stake.
cooperate - Yes
act alone - Yes, even better at this than cooperating
solve equations - Depends on the equation
analyze a new problem - Yes.
pitch manure - Too gross.
program a computer - Maybe with training
cook a tasty meal - Probably
fight efficiently - Don't like fighting.
die gallantly - I think so.

Speak several languages
Be good at climbing
Be scuba certified
Read lips
Free yourself when tied/chained up
Make up a (GOOD) plan quickly

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"If you think the LHC will create black holes, you might as well believe Hobbits are at the bottom of your garden."- Dr. Mike Inglis
Rovers forever! - ToSeek
"Carl Sagan sent a message to ET,
Neil Armstrong walked in the Sea of Tranquility
Steve Squyers built Spirit and Opportunity
Dan Haylen upchucked in zero gravity." -Brent Simon, The Space Camp Song

change a diaper--dose desire count for or against me?==yes
plan an invasion--if unsuccesful counts!==yes
butcher a hog--yep
conn a ship--how big? oh, and can I spell that with ONE "n"?==we'll say yes
design a building--er, I'll say no?
write a sonnet--english class!==yes
balance accounts--i'm independant==yes
build a wall--i could fudge it==yes
set a bone--erm, never have, but if i'm two hours out then==yes
comfort the dying--==yes? (do parents of deceased count also?)
take orders--all the time==yes
give orders--also all the time==yes
cooperate--do or "die"==yes
act alone--also do or "die"==yes
solve equations--to a point==yes
analyze a new problem--do or "die" again==yes
pitch manure--skill??==yes, sometimes i also kick it at people
program a computer--not really==no
cook a tasty meal--yep==yes
fight efficiently--it'll hurt you to try, even if you win==yes
die gallantly--i suppose==yes

19/21=.9047614...(also used a calculator)

So cool to meet someone else that can do this! I can't get every word, but enough to get the gist. It is also helpful when I'm leading a class or meeting, one student is asking a question and others are talking causing me to miss some words. If you don't mind my asking, are you Deaf or know someone who is? Or it's just a cool thing you picked up on?

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None to speak of

Sry to ask but, what means: set a bone?

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Your theory is crazy, but it's not crazy enough to be true. -- Niels Bohr --

Ipsa scientia potestas est. ~ Knowledge itself is power.---- Bacon
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Ad eundum quo nemo ante iit.


Hint: this is at heart a scientific forum, and underneath the fooling around there are some diamond-hard minds hanging about, ready to tear you to shreads. -- mike alexander --

I guess it means put the 2 pieces of a broken bone back into position and support it with some kind of gadget.

BTW: I score 12

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Andre

"They did not know it was impossible, so they did it!"
Mark Twain

I don't think this question tests for skill, but instead for the ability to do a necessary job even though it's dirty, smelly and somewhat yucky.
A bit like the diaper changing question, though that one also involves skill.

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"God bless thee, my son; I will give thee the greatest jewel I have ...
"The end of our foundation is the knowledge of causes, and secret motions of things; and the enlarging of the bounds of human empire, to the effecting of all things possible."Trying to make sense of computers, The Error Log.

I can answer "yes" to everything on that list, but then you'd have to ask me "how well?"

I mean, I'm sure I could plan an invasion, but if it comes to a choice between my plan and a seasoned general with thirty years military experience under his belt... go with the general.

And while I consider myself a truly skilled (amature) chef, I wouldn't inflict a self-written sonnet on anyone. Even my enemies.

- J

Well then, you're a failure, according to Robert A. Soapbox. Never let a silly thing like reality get in the way of a simpleminded quote that some preacher who couldn't distinguish between self-absorption and sophistication designed to sound as if it represented an actual philosophy.

No, because I'm a woman. There are two genders on this planet.

I do like Heinlein.

And according to his wife (a bit of trivia), with whom I exchanged an e-mail once, his favorite meal was pancakes & link sausages.

Does this mean Heinlein was really a Denny's Man?

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The Devil offered me power. I told him I preferred aperture.

my score is 66.66666666% (got tired of typing so left some 6s off).

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Todd (Bowie, MD, US, North America, Earth, Sol System, Vega region, Local Bubble, Orion arm, Milky Way Galaxy, Local Group, Virgo A Cluster, Virgo supercluster, the universe in which spock is clean shaven)

Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.

personal page: http://blog.astrosketches.info

Hmmm--do I get an extra point for not using a calculator?

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Todd (Bowie, MD, US, North America, Earth, Sol System, Vega region, Local Bubble, Orion arm, Milky Way Galaxy, Local Group, Virgo A Cluster, Virgo supercluster, the universe in which spock is clean shaven)

Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.

personal page: http://blog.astrosketches.info

I would have to say not, you merely solved an equation (by reverse-engineering your answer, 66.666...% = 100% x (a/21), I note you answered "yes" to 14).

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The Devil offered me power. I told him I preferred aperture.

Fifteen actually done successfully. I'll take credit for number 21 too. So, 16.

No fighting efficiently, conning a ship, planning an invasion, or setting a bone (hey! here's a wiki!. Wait, that can't be what RAH meant, was it?), and I've never butchered a hog, but plenty of other large mammals.

I've done 16 so far, and I think I could manage the remaining 5 if faced with them.

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I offer a complete and utter retraction. The imputation was totally without basis in fact, was in no way fair comment and was motivated purely by malice. I deeply regret any distress that my comments may have caused you or your family, and I hereby undertake not to repeat any such slander at any time in the future.