Lessons from a Swiss Army knife

It’s that time when people make resolutions for the next year. It’s a good moment to consider living life as though you were a Swiss Army knife, learning things you’ve never done before. Representation pic

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."

That single, breathtaking list of skills, from Robert Heinlein, the American author once called the "dean of science fiction writers" still inspires me. It reminds me of my childhood hero, Batman, self-sufficient and expert in whatever he did. I think of Leonardo da Vinci, the Renaissance Man, whose interests ranged from painting and sculpture to architecture, geology, the design of weapons and defence systems, robotics, the art of cooking, optics and firework displays.

He was a Swiss Army knife of a human being.

I can do only five of the 21 things in Heinlein's list - take orders (not so well), give orders, cooperate (with some people), act alone (easily) and cook a tasty meal (anytime). I used to be able to change a diaper, but those children are young adults now. I know only one knot and I cannot skateboard or roller-skate. Can I comfort the dying? I'll never know. Write a sonnet? Never tried.

Also read: Need prompt action against board hackers

I'm struck equally by the things I do well and millennials don't. For instance, none of them can feed themselves. Someone else irons their clothes. They don't really have handwriting and their reading is limited to short and scrollable things. They stumble through life using directions from Google.

Of late, a new question has been chewing my brain: Why? Why should I be able to use a theodolite or carve barbecued meat? Why learn anything?

Dr Sugata Mitra, winner of the $1-million TED award for 2013, stirred a hornets' nest at an interview by saying, "Knowing is obsolete." When all knowledge is accessible in seconds through a Google search, why remain informed? Or capable? Or competent? Why are any skills necessary?

It's that time when people make promises to themselves about the next year. Here are a few thoughts, all of them about living life as though you were a Swiss Army knife and continuously learning new things.

There's a mundane list of things worth knowing because they're really useful and your mother isn't going to be around forever. It includes things like -
- Cook
- Iron clothes
- Plan a nutritious meal
- Keep a bathroom really clean
- Remove stains
- Swim
- Grow healthy plants
- Know first aid for burns, wounds, sprains
- Listen well, and know when to speak
- Travel alone in a country whose language you don't know

Did you fare abysmally? Fear not, Google swears you're in the 90th percentile and well within the norm.

A better reason for a lifelong education is emerging in a world where machines are taking over what was once uniquely human, including writing and painting. That puts people out of jobs. What happens to pilots when their Airbuses can fly just fine on autopilot? Turns out they could get a new job flying drones from a console - provided they went back to school and learnt drone-flying skills.

The worldwide demand for drone pilots is expected to grow by 51.1 per cent over the next five years, with drone sales projected to reach over $16 billion by 2030. Salaries are lush but having flown an airbus just isn't good enough. You need to have passed drone school, literally with flying colours.

Whatever you're doing now, a machine will probably do it better, and soon. What new skills would you have learnt by then to keep you employed?

The most compelling reason for learning something totally new in 2023 is coming from gerontology. Research is showing that people who learn for the pleasure of learning tend to live longer. Einstein said, "Once you stop learning, you start dying."

If you can't think of what to learn, go wild. Take up macrame. Or pick a language, any language, preferably something you'll never need. Why not Norwegian? Download an app, and start learning it.
Scientists know that your brain's neurons multiply in real time as you learn something challenging or new, a process called neuroplasticity.

More crucially, learning new skills and topics staves off cognitive decline, improving memory, keeping spirits up, and promoting health, postponing or preventing conditions like Alzheimer's and dementia. A study reckons that a year of formal education can add more than six months to your life.

In 2023, I'll continue with the learning list I started in 2022, which includes sign language, Spanish, at least 20 new knots, the art of debate, piano and how to draw the human figure.

The most quirky - and absorbing - thing I'm learning, though, is to write with my left hand.

One day, some day, I intend to write with both hands simultaneously, an essay with the right and a poem with the left. After all, pianists do different things with both hands without thinking, why can't I?

What unexpected skill do you plan to learn in the happy new year coming up?

You can reach C Y Gopinath at cygopi@gmail.com
Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com
The views expressed in this column are the individual's and don't represent those of the paper.