Competition idea: The Generalist Games.
Over the course of many days/weeks/episodes, contestants compete against each other across dozens of different disciplines: bake a cake, play tennis, code a simple app, do a dance routine, make a pot, design a logo, solve a crossword puzzle, build a chair, hit a bullseye in darts, perform a lip sync, survive in the wild, play chess, etc.
@jemaleddin @jkottke something in that vein is central to Piers Anthony's "Apprentice Adept" series
@JoeGermuska @jkottke I was thinking specifically of this Heinlein quote:
“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.”
@jemaleddin @jkottke I mean, Heinlein, too… but Anthony!
Of course, the internet has weighed in, and it's far worse than I remembered...
"I will say only this: please, read someone else’s books, and try to get your children to do so as well. I smell something rotten at the core of this writer’s output, and I know I’m not alone."
https://www.filfre.net/2019/12/companions-of-xanth-preceded-by-the-worrisome-case-of-piers-anthony/
Jason Kottke
Jemal Cole Loves Each of You
Joe Germuska