There was once a man by the name of Robert A. Heinlein that wrote Science Fiction stories.  Maybe you’ve heard of him.  The stories he wrote were full of adventure, social conflict, amazing equipment and machinery, and something much more subtle.  They were filled with attitudes:  how one deals with other people, what one’s responsibilities and duties are to self, family, nation, and species (NOT race, unless you consider race to be the entire Human Race).

Such as being considerate of others.  When one take on a task, one is expected to complete that task to the best of their ability.  And, where that task overlaps the work of others, is expected to take that into account.

Cooperation is the key to that.  It’s never stated baldly in his stories, but characters are expected to cooperate with each other.  They just do it.  Or, they are roundly castigated for NOT cooperating.  Cooperation is not just doing your part, but sharing your part with others that it affects, so that the parts work well together.

Cooperation is at least partly due to respect.  Respect for oneself and respect for those around one.  There can be no respect for others unless there is self-respect.  Likewise, there can be no self-respect without respect for others.  When one respects another one takes the important step in realizing that the work of that other also has value and importance.  Opinions may vary between people, but that does not preclude being able to respect them and their opinions, whether or not you agree with the opinions.

In fact, disagreeing with the opinion of others can be important.  Heinlein’s stories are filled with people disagreeing with each other and resolving the disagreement through respectful dialogue.  This leads to a better understanding of how to deal with a problem.  Arguments like, “this is the way it’s always been done” don’t accomplish anything useful.  Neither does the attitude that one has made an opinion and is going to follow it no matter what other say.  Knowledge and experience are much more important than canalized opinions.  And the sharing of that knowledge and experience can lead to much more beneficial results.  Of course, to be able to share that knowledge and experience one must maintain an open mind.

Some of Heinlein’s stories revolve around the need for help.  Very often, help is offered without the other character needing to ask.  However, in real life, people aren’t always as observant of the needs of others.  Asking for help doesn’t diminish one.  It enables one.  One way of looking at it is that “the whole is greater than the sum of the parts”.  What can be accomplished with the help of others is much more than each individual can accomplish on their own.  If a task is to large for one individual, there is no shame in asking others to help out.  That help may be in the form of physical work or just advice, information, knowledge concerning a subject.  We have received such help all our lives, starting with assistance in walking and talking, and on up through the education one gets from school.

Obviously, there are also times when that need for help can result in a re-ordering of leadership, or a reorganization of jobs.  Such transitions, in Heinlein stories, usually occur smoothly and seamlessly.  An obvious contradiction to this is the book “The Number of the Beast”.  Here, chapters are taken up with individuals each taking the lead until one is finally chosen as the appropriate person to lead.  I think that it’s probably the only Heinlein story where so much time is spent on demonstrating the need for cooperation of individuals for the greater good, and the need for smooth transitions in leadership.

All of this collection of attitudes goes on behind the scenes.  Heinlein doesn’t come right out and say, “This is how you need to do things.”  He demonstrates it by the actions of the characters.  And, for a young reader, many of these concepts may not be readily apparent.  Yet they are there and have an affect on one.

They certainly had an affect on me.  Of course, I’m not always successful.  I’m human and make mistakes.  But I started reading Heinlein books and short stories when I was 10 years old.  By the time I was an adult, these attitudes had crept into my life and brought themselves to my attention.

It was no wonder that I could “see through” the Ubuntu Code of Conduct language to the underlying needs and attitudes, and sign it without a qualm.

Thank you, Robert A. Heinlein