Freeconomy Blog
Sun
08 Mar
The Top 10 skills for the future...
I was talking with Fergus Drennan yesterday, a mate who came over from Canterbury to run this week's Freeskilling evening, a weekly event put on by the local Bristol Freeconomy Group, where he showed a large audience how to make foraged toothpaste, paper and card out of mushrooms, plasters and a razor strop from a Birch Polypore, and even pillows and insulation out of wild reed mace, amongst a host of other amazing foraging hints and tips.
We were briefly speaking about what we thought were the top skills of the future. There are almost 2,000 skills pre-listed on this website, so that is a lot to choose from, but I thought I should maybe list what I think are going to be the most important ones; some of them will probably be unexpected, some of them you'll most likely disagree with; and you'll certainly have others you think are more important. If so, share them with the community by commenting at the bottom.
1. Physical fitness:
Cheap energy and huge salaries – these are two of the species most likely to be almost extinct by the middle of the second decade of the 21st Century. So things that were previously done by machine and oil are one day going to have to be done by human energy again. We'll be cycling and walking instead of driving, growing food instead of buying it, and using forks and spades instead of diggers.
I put this at number one because I feel that unless we all get fit again, we are not going to have the physical and mental stamina to use all the other skills we have to be fully able to adopt to a more sustainable way of living.
2. Vegetable Growing:
Food is one of the few things in life we actually need to survive. So when the price of our imported, non-organic food rises in tandem with the price of oil, which many experts belief will be quite steep within the next five years, growing your own won’t just be a really fun hobby, it may be a matter of survival.
My advice is to start learning now – I believe we will have a couple of years grace period, a chance to try things and learn from our successes and mistakes, before we have to do it for real. The good news is that there are many organisations out there now to help you learn.
3. Permaculture:
Permaculture is about designing sustainable human settlements through ecology and design, and is a philosophy and an approach to land use which weaves together microclimates, annual and perennial plants, soils, water management and human needs into intricately connected productive communities. Well thats what Bill Mollison says anyway. In a nutshell, it is a totally holistic approach to life and it is probably the answer to a lot of our future problems.
The first step is going to be to learn the principles involved – the next skill required will be the strength, determination and focus to put it into practice in everything we do in life.
4. Teaching:
Everyone has some skill that is really useful to somneone else, even if they are not fully aware of it. A lot of people aren't very confident, however, in teaching it to others. This is one thing the Freeskilling evenings are about – not only do the people in the audience get to learn a new skill, but the 'teacher' or 'sharer' gets a chance to master the art of teaching. We all want to learn new skills, therefore we all have a responsibility to improve our ability to show others the stuff we know.
5. Bushcraft:
This includes skills ranging from food foraging, collecting and puifying water to constructing natural shelters, making natural binding and cord, backwoods cookery, basic knots, fire making and star-craft navigation.
I think regardless of whatt the future holds for humanity, these are just really fun skills to learn.
6. Self-discipline:
Siddharta, the subject of Hermann Hesse's classic book of the same title, once said when asked by a potential employer what his main skills were - “I can fast”, he said. The merchant says “Fasting – what good is that?”, to which he replies “if a man has nothing to eat, fasting is the most important thing he can do”.
I am not suggesting we are all going to have nothing to eat soon – what is a certainty, I belief, is that we are going to have to live with less, and much less at that. I really recommend weaning yourself off a lot of the material things that western ‘civilisation’ has become addicted to. Like all addictions, the other alternative is to go cold turkey whenever the inevitable actually happens.
7. Carpentry:
Being able to make things out of local wood is going to be vital – the more you understand wood, its different varieties and best uses and how to make it into the various things you need to live, the more resilient you are going to be to a worsening economy and a resource depleting planet. Within this I would include green woodworking.
Just think how good it would feel to make your own chair or spoon out of wood you felled yourself!
8. Clothes making and repairing:
If we stopped manufacturing clothes today the world would probably still have enough to go around for at least another ten years. This, however, would depend on us knowing how to mend those clothes we do already have.
Long term we need to learn how to grow and process crops suitable for clothing such as cotton, hemp, bamboo, nettle (depending what region of the world you live in).
9. Cooking and baking:
I am always shocked by the amount of people in my generation who do not know how to cook; this really is the ready meal generation. The best way to save money on food is to buy as unprocessed as possible and cook for yourself, which is also a lot more wholesome and nutritious.
It is, more often than not, cheaper and environmentally better to buy organic food fresh and in bulk than it is to buy processed non-organic food.
10. The skill of bring able to give and share:
One of the biggest ironies about the way we live today is that if we could only learn to share what we’ve got, as opposed to hoarding and protecting, we’d all be much better off. Imagine if you could borrow anything from anyone in your local area – you would have so much available to you and you’d save loads of money (meaning less loans and stress).
But not only does it help us materially, it also is crucial to rebuilding communities. When people share things (whether it be their time or their computer), it builds bonds between people, and everyone involved feels more uplifted about the world they live in.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot – the ability to love, care and respect ourselves, each other, the planet and each of the species that we share it with.
What do you think are most important skills of the future?
THE FREECONOMY BLOG is written by Mark Boyle, founder member of The Freeconomy Community. If you want to respond, debate or ask questions, please just comment below; you will have to sign in (or sign-up) first.
Comment on this Post:
Beth Tilston comments ...
Phew, I'm learning or have learnt most of those things... only carpentry remains unvisited. I would add a couple too. Storytelling - I think that this is a key skill and we need to relearn how to tell each other stories that will inspire and empower. Having fun now - realising that now is it and enjoying your life in the moment.
Jane comments ...
Here are some of my important skills for the future:
Laughing. This means laughter that begins in the belly, not the head. As our civilization collapses and we enter into new and very uncertain times, the development and maintenance of a good sense of humour and the ability to laugh in the face of adversity will be crucial. It will help others around us who may feel shock and a sense of loss. Also, laughter eases stress and makes us less prone to stress related diseases such as cancer and high blood pressure which will be important in a post peak everything world with less fossil fuelled healthcare systems.
Daydreaming. In the days of the growth economy, daydreaming was viewed as something negative and unproductive. Given a bad press and cast out along with her twin sister 'idleness', daydreaming is a crucial piece of being human. It is about how we get creative in our heads and reflect on the world around us and ponder the Divine. In a future where there will be less fossil fuels and more physically tiring work, periods of idleness, reflection, prayer, meditation and dreaming will be essential to our future growth and understanding of who we are.
Compassionate listening. Another important skill. When you meet a former 4x4 driver who has lost their fancy house, money, status etc, what are you going to say? Tell them it serves them right for being such a materialistic prick, or offer sympathy and see how you can work together in the world that is unfolding?
Singing. Not to be underestimated. It’s good for the body as well as the soul, and is great even if you can’t sing a note. Will be a good vehicle for conveying stories about the new world as it unfolds, and is also wonderfully fantabulous when used in a choir. Local choirs will be one of the great post peak oil pastimes.
Bodging. Take something that is broken and make it useable by adding a component that might be entirely incongruous with the original article but works nonetheless, and you have bodged. Once you have raised a sweat repairing it, you can sit and use your sense of humour and laughter at how funny it now looks, feel a sense of pride that you did it, and then sit daydreaming for an hour or four. (Although the true definition of bodging has something to do with greenwood working, I like this definition too)
There is a good list of the 200 artisan skills required to make a Victorian town functional on the Transition Culture blog here:
http://transitionculture.org/2009/01/22/the-200-artisan-skills-required-to-make-a-victorian-town-functional/
Mark Boyle comments ...
*To Beth Tilston*
Sounds like you are on a real reskilling mission!
*To Jane*
Love the link, what a great set of skills on there - lots to learn! And really like your additions.
anuj comments ...
well, that certainly is a flawless list.i'd like to learn all of those skills as i go on in my life, though i can cross off physical fitness (which i think i've achieved,i hope)
Lee comments ...
Oh yeah, I almost forgot – the ability to love, care and respect ourselves, each other, gucci sunglasses the planet and each of the species that we share it with.