- "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."
- — Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love
The competent man, more often than not, is written without explaining how he achieved his wide range of skills and abilities, especially as true expertise typically suggests practical experience instead of learning through books or formalized education alone. While not implausible with older or unusually long lived characters, when such characters are young it is often not adequately explained as to how they acquired so many skills at an early age. It would be easy for a reader to form the impression that the competent man is just basically a better sort of human being, leading to the contention that this is a basically Fascist trope; this impression is bolstered by the tendency of the competent man to break rules that normally seem necessary.
Examples
- Peter Berlin (Armin Hagen Baron von-Hoyningen-Huene)
- Adam Reith, from Jack Vance's Planet of Adventure series
- Aloysius Pendergast, from the fiction of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.
- Batman
- Doc Savage
- The Doctor from Doctor Who
- Derek Flint
- Samurai Jack
- James Bond
- Tyler Durden of Fight Club
- Ryo Saeba
- Mario
- Indiana Jones
- John Galt in the romance novel Atlas Shrugged
- Nicholai Hel, titular character seeking Shibumi
- Yoko Tsuno
- the protagonists of many early Alfred Hitchcock films
- the protagonists of novels by Clive Cussler, for example Dirk Pitt.
- the heroes of most Neal Stephenson novels
- MacGyver
- Forrest Taft
- Jarod
- Peter Wimsey
- Psmith
- Stile, from Piers Anthony's Apprentice Adept series
- Forrest Gump
- Francisco d'Anconia, from Atlas Shrugged.
- The Stainless Steel Rat, hero of Harry Harrison's series of the same name.
- Westley in The Princess Bride
- Gordon Freeman, the protagonist of most of the Half-Life series, may be considered a competent man as he is able to use a wide range of weaponry, defeat highly-trained military personnel, operate scientific, military and construction equipment, drive different types of vehicles as well as writing essays on scientific topics.
- Characters in The Matrix are not competent per se, but they may learn to master about any skill they wish in a few seconds by downloading it to their brain.
- Nicole Des Jardins (Rama II and its sequels by Arthur C. Clarke and Gentry Lee), an example of a competent woman.
- John Wayne in most of his movies.
References
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Wednesday July 16, 2008 at 16:39:12 PDT (GMT -0700)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation
- "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."
- — Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love
The competent man, more often than not, is written without explaining how he achieved his wide range of skills and abilities, especially as true expertise typically suggests practical experience instead of learning through books or formalized education alone. While not implausible with older or unusually long lived characters, when such characters are young it is often not adequately explained as to how they acquired so many skills at an early age. It would be easy for a reader to form the impression that the competent man is just basically a better sort of human being, leading to the contention that this is a basically Fascist trope; this impression is bolstered by the tendency of the competent man to break rules that normally seem necessary.
Examples
- Peter Berlin (Armin Hagen Baron von-Hoyningen-Huene)
- Adam Reith, from Jack Vance's Planet of Adventure series
- Aloysius Pendergast, from the fiction of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.
- Batman
- Doc Savage
- The Doctor from Doctor Who
- Derek Flint
- Samurai Jack
- James Bond
- Tyler Durden of Fight Club
- Ryo Saeba
- Mario
- Indiana Jones
- John Galt in the romance novel Atlas Shrugged
- Nicholai Hel, titular character seeking Shibumi
- Yoko Tsuno
- the protagonists of many early Alfred Hitchcock films
- the protagonists of novels by Clive Cussler, for example Dirk Pitt.
- the heroes of most Neal Stephenson novels
- MacGyver
- Forrest Taft
- Jarod
- Peter Wimsey
- Psmith
- Stile, from Piers Anthony's Apprentice Adept series
- Forrest Gump
- Francisco d'Anconia, from Atlas Shrugged.
- The Stainless Steel Rat, hero of Harry Harrison's series of the same name.
- Westley in The Princess Bride
- Gordon Freeman, the protagonist of most of the Half-Life series, may be considered a competent man as he is able to use a wide range of weaponry, defeat highly-trained military personnel, operate scientific, military and construction equipment, drive different types of vehicles as well as writing essays on scientific topics.
- Characters in The Matrix are not competent per se, but they may learn to master about any skill they wish in a few seconds by downloading it to their brain.
- Nicole Des Jardins (Rama II and its sequels by Arthur C. Clarke and Gentry Lee), an example of a competent woman.
- John Wayne in most of his movies.
References
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Wednesday July 16, 2008 at 16:39:12 PDT (GMT -0700)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation
Copyright © 2008, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.