On Thu, 28 Apr 2011, Frank wrote:
[...]
> What do you do to contribute and repay them for saving your life and all
> their kindness?
Whatever I'm good at?
> You have only the knowledge in your head and your physical capabilities
> to draw from.
I wonder if you are just trying to find a circumspect way to address the
question "What does a professional gambler contribute to society?"
If literally all someone is capable of doing is sitting in a chair and
pressing buttons, then such a person has little to offer your hypothetical
island community, yes.
However, depending on age, most would still probably be useful for basic
physical labor if nothing else, and also just because someone chooses to
be a professional gambler doesn't mean they can't have other skills they
could offer to a pre-industrial society.
Even if they didn't, in the abstract a professional gambler is probably
good at math, detail-oriented, can spot weaknesses/things that can be
exploited or need to be defended against, etc. which are traits that might
be useful to help a community improve/maintain its situation.
