Basic Life Skills No-One Has Anymore

[tkioz]

What's happened to the world? People have grown up in the current generation, a generation I'm part of, without learning basic skills, what happened? Was it tech? Was it parents simply not passing them down? Or something else?

I'm talking about the ability to fix hole in a pair of socks for the love of god or fry an egg!

For example I was invited over to dinner at a friends house a while back, long story short I showed up early and offered to help him cook, he asked me to cut up some meat, the problem was all his knives were as dull as a politician, I asked where his steel was and he had no clue what I meant, I finally got across I was after a sharpening stone, which he didn't have, nor did he have a clue how to use it... nor did any of the other guests at the dinner all mid 20s...

I mean what the heck? I learnt how to sharpen a knife when I was 10, around the same time I learn how to mend clothes, cook basic food (before moving onto more advanced stuff), etc.

Was it because I was raised by my grandparents, people from a generation who valued those skills?

How many people here lack those skills and why do you think they are vanishing?

 

[Vhite]

Was it parents simply not passing them down?

This in my case.

 

[Shockolate]

Luxuries, such as just buying new knives, make people complacent and reliant on those luxuries.

Or something. Yeah.

 

[Dango]

The skill I'm lacking is the ability to not feel guilty. I feel guilty really easily. Although this is also kind of good, as it means I rarely let people do things for me. I don't know why this is though, maybe it's because I was pretty much raised by a babysitter that was incredibly kind but also very poor.

EDIT: Yes! 1600th post, which is important because as everyone knows 1600 is one of the best numbers.

 

[Amnestic]

Parents never taught me how to mend clothes, sharpen knives or make any food. I can do the foremost to a very small extent, and I taught myself the lattermost through trial and (more than a few) errors.

I do think it's a matter of parents not passing across skills. I've noticed that the internet has more than a few decent "tutorials" for such things though, so anyone with an interweb connection can learn easy enough if they don't know.

 

[MellowFellow]

Who cares about mending socks, I just keep on wearing them, whether they have holes or not. Well actually I wear them until my mom gets annoyed of me wearing socks with holes in them and throws them away.

But yeah, neither of my parents know how to mend clothes and I am pretty sure they don't care about doing that either, so they had no way to pass that down to me. Although, I don't really care either about whether or not I can mend my own clothes.

 

[RandomWords]

Wait, people don't know how to do that? Really? I was independent and capable of doing that (and much, much more) when I was six. Maybe their family was just accustomed to luxuries.

 

[SimuLord]

I have had six---SIX!---ex-girlfriends to whom I have had to teach the skill of "how to write a check."

As far as basic sock repair and knife sharpening and whatnot, to steal a line from Huxley: "Ending is better than mending."

 

[sky14kemea]

Never learned to sharpen a knife >_> But I can fry an egg. xD

I like cooking actually, I'm pretty okay at it. As for fixing socks, I can sew a patch over it fine enough ;D

I can also use the washer and attempt to iron my own clothing =P but that's about it. Kids aren't interested in learning that sorta thing these days ~o~

 

[Chogg Van Helsing]

Was it parents simply not passing them down?

This in my case.

I would have loved to have been brought up with those skills! But my generation doesn't seem to know much apart from how to get drunk, party and lead themselves to an early grave. And the rest of us just have to put up with the idiots shout all night ¬_¬

But my friend could probably do all that stuff lol.

 

[omega 616]

Probably the same reason you don't know how to skin an animal or something.

Since there are 6 billion of us, all now easier to get stuff to, etc. We now specialize in certain things. Not like those tribes that live in the amazon, were kids can cut a tree down make it into a boat, catch a fuck tonne of fish, get home and cook them while there parents build more shacks.

Then theres the age of replacement, how many times have you looked at your phone and thought "I need a new one"? Theres nothing wrong with what you have now, it calls, receives texts, takes pics, goes online yadda yadda yadda but you still want the latest thing.

30 years ago if you had a phone that you could carry round and nothing else you would have been THE man, now if it doesn't have a decent camera, internet access, texts, wifi and a bazzilion apps you don't want to know. There the swiss army knives of today.

Broken washing machine? Get a new one. Broken TV? Get a new one. Want a fried egg? Go to the nearest cafe and have somebody cook it for you, then wash up after you. Want a sharper knife? Buy one. Want a nice chicken breast? Go to KFC and order one, saves finding a chicken, breaking it's neck, defeathering(?) it, cleaning it, cutting it, cooking it, then eating it.

Sorry, that was longer than expected.

 

[Betancore]

Luxuries, such as just buying new knives, make people complacent and reliant on those luxuries.

Or something. Yeah.

Well, this. What's the point of mending your socks when you can just buy another pack? Why sharpen your knife when you can buy a new one? Maybe we're all just getting lazy.

I don't know, my parents didn't teach me how to fix a hole, or fry an egg, but I can do both anyway. I reckon I could sharpen a knife too, since I've watched my grandfather do it. But I don't think I should be allowed near sharp things.

 

[Wardnath]

Parents never taught me how to mend clothes, sharpen knives or make any food.

This is basically it.

 

[similar.squirrel]

I was ashamed to find out that I couldn't change a fuse. I don't know where people learn these things, since my parents certainly didn't teach me.

 

[Funkysandwich]

I'd say I have a great deal of basic practical skills, but most of that was self taught. I think it's just because kids these days don't really want to DO stuff like this.

For instance, I learned most of what I know because I was interested enough to try it.
Most people seem to lack any sort of drive or desire to do that.

Having said that, I don't make a great academic student because I'd rather be doing stuff then writing about doing stuff or answering questions about how to do stuff on a test. Which is what I hate about today's education system. I'd rather learn how to do stuff by actually doing it, rather then reading about how to do it and answering questions.

Basically, if you're saying "I'd like to have these skills" then turn off your computer, get out of your chair and actually go and do something.

 

[Keava]

My parents never taught me, but i still learned it myself. It was just something i had to know how to do for my own good and to save money. Just the same way i learned basics of working with electricity, plumbing and other things. I pretty much fix everything in my house unless it actually requires in depth knowledge or speciality equipment.

Most of people these days live with their parents till they have a steady job and can afford not knowing stuff. Simple laziness.

 

[Agayek]

What's happened to the world? People have grown up in the current generation, a generation I'm part of, without learning basic skills, what happened? Was it tech? Was it parents simply not passing them down? Or something else?

I'm talking about the ability to fix hole in a pair of socks for the love of god or fry an egg!

For example I was invited over to dinner at a friends house a while back, long story short I showed up early and offered to help him cook, he asked me to cut up some meat, the problem was all his knives were as dull as a politician, I asked where his steel was and he had no clue what I meant, I finally got across I was after a sharpening stone, which he didn't have, nor did he have a clue how to use it... nor did any of the other guests at the dinner all mid 20s...

I mean what the heck? I learnt how to sharpen a knife when I was 10, around the same time I learn how to mend clothes, cook basic food (before moving onto more advanced stuff), etc.

Was it because I was raised by my grandparents, people from a generation who valued those skills?

How many people here lack those skills and why do you think they are vanishing?

The answer to this is pretty simple: The advance of technology. As technology advances, things become cheaper and cheaper (relatively speaking), and it's reached the point where it's, for most middle-class people, more economical/easier to just replace things that break, instead of repairing them. The cost to replace them is low enough that it outweighs the time spent learning how, and then actually repairing whatever the item is.

As for what skills I actually know: I am fully capable of being entirely self-suficient. Meaning I can cook, clean and perform the basic maintenance required to keep a home in working order. I'm not particularly good at any of it, mostly because I rarely put any of those skills to use, but I can do it when I need to. The only skill on your list that I'm not at least mildly proficient in is mending clothes. I can sew a mostly straight and decently strong line, but anything more complicated than a few stitches and I'm lost.

 

[yoyo13rom]

I have had six---SIX!---ex-girlfriends to whom I have had to teach the skill of "how to write a check."

As far as basic sock repair and knife sharpening and whatnot, to steal a line from Huxley: "Ending is better than mending."

How is writing a check basic stuff?(oh, wait, I forgot that's how you do things in America)
I mean here people never ever pay buy check(not even the really, really rich dudes don't), but that's just a difference in social organisation.

OT: Basic cooking: check(although except eggs and a few dishes I don't know anything else)
Sharpen a knife: Nope I don't know how to do it(ever done it), but it's all because knife sharpeners are really hard to find here, seriously.
Ironing: check.

I really don't know how to answer the OP's question though.

 

[Luftwaffles]

We were thought basic life skills back in primary school. Stuff like, how to wire a power-plug(the colour codes of wires etc), basic woodworking, basic electronics, sewing(yeah....i hated it...) and ledger keeping. Basic basic stuff really. And i was also in the scouts which helped with knife sharpening, fire building, tying knots.