My reaction was the opposite. I see a lot of stuff on Heinlein's list as very subjective. I may think I'm good at following and giving orders, other people may think differently.
A fire is useful if you are ever lost. At one time, a person who became lost outside of a city was mostly likely to die of hunger. Nowadays the majority of deaths are due to exposure.
Things like knives and outlets strike me as basic maintenance that everybody should be able to do. You should know how to sharpen your knives periodically if you cook for yourself, otherwise you will throwing away perfectly good knives for no reason. (And good knives aren't cheap.)
Likewise, calling in a professional every time you need something minor done like re-connecting a loose outlet is going to mean throwing away money for no good reason. I count those as basic life skills.
Some of the car stuff, otoh is only useful if you drive. I find it a very American assumption that everybody needs skills that are specific to cars. And I may die happily without ever having to know how to hook up an HDTV that I'll never own.
no subject
A fire is useful if you are ever lost. At one time, a person who became lost outside of a city was mostly likely to die of hunger. Nowadays the majority of deaths are due to exposure.
Things like knives and outlets strike me as basic maintenance that everybody should be able to do. You should know how to sharpen your knives periodically if you cook for yourself, otherwise you will throwing away perfectly good knives for no reason. (And good knives aren't cheap.)
Likewise, calling in a professional every time you need something minor done like re-connecting a loose outlet is going to mean throwing away money for no good reason. I count those as basic life skills.
Some of the car stuff, otoh is only useful if you drive. I find it a very American assumption that everybody needs skills that are specific to cars. And I may die happily without ever having to know how to hook up an HDTV that I'll never own.