radical_negative_one comments on Insufficiently Awesome - Less Wrong Discussion
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Hm, you're right. For physical ability, how about what the military considers barely acceptable? I'm fairly sure those records will be easy to find.
For social ability, feeling at ease in common social situations, and the ability to handle a real conversation. Possibly also how to handle exotic bad situations like dealing with crisis victims, or suicidal people. I'm not sure whether basic dancing should go here or in the physical pile. Public speaking and debate might go here or in the strategy pile.
For strategy, game theory and anger management. I'm not sure how to teach general 'strategy', but I think that studying enough related skills would indirectly affect your ability. Crisis management, how to deal with emergency situations?
The goal in the social and strategy categories is to know what the most common mistakes are and how to avoid them, and then after that work on skill.
Creative.. it's impossible to become good at every instrument, singing, and every art form without a lot more intelligence or time or something. Find two or three things you like from different disciplines, and study with others that are interested? Maybe we can spawn a LW band?
These are just random ideas, of course. Once I start walking daily I can talk it over with anyone that wants to join me, and maybe make the goals more specific over time. Everything will have to be subject to change depending on interest, of course... but still I want to do things, and not just talk about them.
Edit - please disregard this post
You're in luck! Really, you can just type "army pft" into google to remember the goals. The Army test requires no equipment, the Navy test asks you to swim, and the Marine test requires a pull-up bar. When i decided to get into shape, i figured i should try to reach those standards. Although, be warned that when you look up such things the articles will assume that you're a person who is thinking about enlisting in the US military.
For myself, i added Police and Fire Department tests to the list. My local PD test is similar to the Army PFT but uses a 1-rep benchpress (of my own body's weight) instead of push-ups. The local Firefighter test is a bit more complicated and would require me to sign up for the test in order to use the equipment and facilities their test is based on, so it's less clear how to measure my preparedness for that.