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#redirect Robert A. Heinlein#The Competent Man Tags: New redirect 2017 wikitext editor |
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#redirect [[Robert A. Heinlein#The Competent Man]] |
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{{Multiple issues|{{essay|date=August 2014}} |
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{{original research|date=October 2018}} |
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{{refimprove|date=October 2018}} |
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<!-- Deleted image removed: [[file:Heinlein-competent-man-quote.jpg|thumb|right|Heinlein's famous words, an indirect exposition on the competent hero.]] --> |
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In literature, the '''competent man''' is a [[stock character]] who can do anything perfectly, or otherwise exhibits a very wide range of abilities and knowledge, making him a form of [[polymath]]. While not the first to use such a character type, the heroes and heroines of [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s fiction (with [[Jubal Harshaw]] being a prime example) generally have a wide range of abilities, and one of Heinlein's characters, [[Lazarus Long]], gives a wide summary of requirements: |
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:''"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, analyse a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."'' |
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:— Robert Heinlein, ''[[Time Enough for Love]]''<ref>Heinlein, Robert A., ''[[Time Enough for Love]]'', Ace Books (paperback edition, 1988). Page 248. {{ISBN|978-0-441-81076-5}}</ref><ref>Heinlein, Robert A., ''[[The Notebooks of Lazarus Long]]'', G.P. Putnam's Sons. (paperback edition, 1978). SBN 399-12242-7</ref> |
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The competent man, more often than not, is written without explaining how he achieved his wide range of skills and abilities. When such characters are young, there is often not much explanation as to how they acquired so many skills at an early age. |
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==History== |
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Examples of early modern competent heroes include the protagonists of [[George Bernard Shaw]], like Henry Higgins in [[Pygmalion (play)|Pygmalion]] and Caesar in [[Caesar and Cleopatra (play)|his eponymous play]], as well as the citizen soldiers in [[Rudyard Kipling]]'s "[[The Army of a Dream]]". |
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Many non-superpowered [[comic book]] characters are written as hyper-competent characters due to the perception that they would simply be considered underpowered otherwise. [[Batman]], for example, is typically depicted as a member of the [[Justice League of America]] alongside [[Superman]], [[Wonder Woman]], and [[Green Lantern]], all of whom are superpowered while he lacks superhuman powers of any kind. As a result, despite his original depiction as a vigilante, modern depictions of Batman portray him as having achieved the peak-human possibility in things physical and intellectual. The same treatment has been applied to [[Lex Luthor]], who has always been Superman's archenemy despite the former's total lack of superhuman powers. |
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==Competence porn== |
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A particular type of entertainment, which has been critically referred to as "competence porn", involves impressive feats of human capability, examples being the strategizing of the characters in ''[[House of Cards (UK TV series)|House of Cards]]'', the medical acumen of [[Gregory House]] and the deductive brilliance of [[Sherlock Holmes]],<ref>https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/10744879/Are-you-hooked-on-competence-porn.html</ref> or almost any [[John Scalzi]] protagonist. |
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==See also== |
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* [[Mary Sue]] |
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* [[Jack of all trades, master of none]] |
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==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
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{{Stock characters}} |
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[[Category:Giftedness]] |
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[[Category:Hero]] |
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Latest revision as of 18:26, 1 November 2023
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