Required Knowledge revisited

[gwywnnydd]

[originally posted 05/2003]
Been thinking about what knowledge should be required for all humans above the age of, say, 15. Basic stuff. Stuff like:
How to sew a button back on.
How to cook a meal (doesn't need to be fancy, does need to represent the food pyramid appropriately. Does not involve setting the kitchen on fire).
How to make dirty clothes become clean clothes (known as 'doing laundry')
How to keep one's living space from becoming a health hazard.
How to change a flat tire.
How to change the oil in a vehicle, and how often this should happen.
How to open a bank account.
How to balance a check book (and WHY!)
Emergency first aid (beyond the current Red Cross curriculum of "don't touch, stay back, call an ambulance").

-Added bystaxxy
how to pay bills
how to say "no" when something does not sound like you need or want it
how to read a map
how to find assistance in a public place (for example: getting a jump from security at the mall, finding a bathroom at an office tower, this sort of thing)
how to shop for groceries (especially fresh stuff - fruit, vegetables, meats)
how to iron a shirt and a pair of pants
how to use a card catalog at a library
How to change a fuse in a fuse box
How to reset an electrical breaker
How to relight a pilot light on a water heater
How to use the "clean" setting on an oven (without burning the kitchen down)
How to make a nice cup of tea
How to ask for things you acutally *need* (physically and emotionally)
How to connect things to, and disconnect things from your television (cable, game boxes, vcrs, dvds, stereos)
How to write a check (possibly in with balancing a checkbook)
How to write a formal letter
How to tell time using the sun
How to make non-potable water into potable water in the wilderness (in case of extreme emergency)

-Added by lawst
How to say please and thank you, as well as use other forms of good manners.
How to wash themselves.
How to eat with utensils (a thing I see many adults doing improperly).
How to wipe their ass.
How to take care of their teeth.
How to use their edit buttons when appropriate.

And, recently suggested by kickaha
The difference between insurance *premiums* and insurance *deductibles* (and why the agent is not evil for making you pay deductibles).

And a link provided by katybeth:
http://www.tomatonation.com/over25.shtml

I recently decided I needed to add: How to live within your means.
yes, if you're a Grad student, this means you regularly find yourself wondering how long you can live on top ramen before scurvy sets in. But then, if you're a grad student, you're already in debt up to your eyeballs :).
I suppose a subset of living within your means would be "How to ensure you get the basics for required existence (food, shelter)."

Comments

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

could I talk you into cross posting this? ;)

I think it would be a good one to share with the rest of the village.

[gwywnnydd.livejournal.com]

Excellent point. Will do that . . .

[catmcroy.livejournal.com]

I'd add:

How to write a love letter
How to do ONE kind of formal dancing well (waltz, polka etc)
How to appear in public without looking like you dressed in the dark
How to write a thank you letter

[noiseinmyhead.livejournal.com]

How to change a lightbulb.

Also (can't resist)

[noiseinmyhead.livejournal.com]

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, design a building, conn a ship, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve an equation, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
- Robert A. Heinlein

[lintqueen.livejournal.com]

I'd strike "How to change the oil in a vehicle, and how often this should happen." (they have people to do that, you know, and I just can't imagine a situation where an emergency oil change was necessary and there was no one I could pay to do it). Perhaps once upon a long time ago, but nowadays, with the environmental regs regarding disposal of oil (which are, of course, a necessary and good thing) and the cheapness and prevalence of Oil Change Establishments, I just don't see this as a necessary skill. (Sort of like cutting my own hair... I can pay someone to do that who will do it with the right tools and wiht more knowledge than I could possibly have).

:-)

[gwywnnydd.livejournal.com]

I have a slightly different take on it (obviously) :).
The way I see it, this is a skill one should have. If, once you have acquired this skill, you don't feel compelled to exercise it, that's fine. But I come at it from the "No new skill is worthless" school of thought.

That and I grate at the thought that the Oil Change establishments cost me 200% of what it would cost me to do it myself. I understand paying for convenience, and I have done so in the past. I just like having the option :).

[lintqueen.livejournal.com]

I agree that no skill is worthless...however, not all skills are *required*. It's probably a differing definition of "Required": I was working under the assupmtion that "required"="necessary to know because one's heath, safety ro well-being relies on it, and not necessarily able to be purchased/bartered for easily". So, for instance, I probably need to be able to say "thank you" and read a map 'cause both of those things are not easily outsourced and could be necessary...

That being said, here in NC getting oil changed costs $15-$20 and takes 20 minutes at a Jiffy Lube. Disposal fee for used oil is about $12.00. Differential is too small to me to be meaningful when you add in the fact that I *still* have to go to the Jiffy Lube (or equivalent) to dispose of the damn thing!

Now that I think of it though, I would add "jumpstart a car" and "rock a car out of snow/ice", 'cause those are things you might be needing in an emergency. Of course, I don't carry cables (bad Gina) and am willing to bet that someone who does knows how to use them (worse). Oh well. AAA for me :-)

[gwywnnydd.livejournal.com]

Ah, I see where part of our disconnect is. jiffy Lube, here in the Seattle area, is $35, plus $4 tax.
A filter and four quarts of oil from Schucks is $16. The oil I can take to Schucks (which is on the way to about half of my normal routine, so I can stop on my way somewhere else) to dispose of, and I don't pay a disposal fee.

I'll agree that changing the oil isn't 'required' knowledge, given your definition. But I'll stand by my assessment of "Important to know" :).


$12 disposal fee? Wow.

[lintqueen.livejournal.com]

Wowsers. Yep, in your neck of the woods it does seem like do-it-yerselfing is a better option for oil changes.

(And yes, it is one of those things I feel I "should" know how to do. But that would involve oil. Which is ickky. And Getting Under My Car which would also be messy. I don't like dirt all that much ;-)

[gwywnnydd.livejournal.com]

Heh, I'm more of a tomboy, so getting dirty is fun for me :).

Dirt, oil, printers ink, it's all good :).