Would you survive world disaster?

[ssandra]

If a world disaster strikes... would you be one of those who survive?

It doesn't matter what type of disaster, meteorite, nuclear war, illness etc. The result is that 80% of the world population is gone. You are still here.

Would you survive?
What would you do?
Would you live or kill yourself?
Who would you want to survive with you (personal and/or famous)

What type of person would you be?
* Leader of the New World, everybody looks to you for guidence
* Lonely, traveling the world, sometimes meeting up with new people, never staying long
* Having a small community where you live as they did 2000 years ago
* Somebody who makes other people do what he/she wants through force
* Gather as much weapons as possible and estabilsh the next world force
* Gather as much light workers as possible and establish the next world force
Somebody else?

What would your first action be?
* Find the person in charge
* Be the person in charge
* Hide until somebody finds you
* Look for food/drinks
* Wander until you find people (or they find you)
Something else?

Would you know how to survive? Where would you get your info? Or would you live on canned food from the supermarket as long as possible?

I'll post my own "story" later, I am interested what you guys would do/be.

[WanderingOak]

It would depend on the catastrophe. I have no illusions, and know that without access to medical care I could quite easily die from stepping on a rusty nail, for example. That being said, I am a bit of a Luddite, so I would probably just adapt to the new living conditions, work with my neighbors to grow the biggest garden that we could, gather firewood, and life would go on, only without the rat race.

[aggie]

no real game plan...

i just think i have a real strong sense of self preservation and would as quickly as possible amass whatever supplies i could in a safe area until i could feel out what/who was around me.

i would hope to meet up with like-minded people who could work together as a unit. i would be happy to support anyone that felt that capable leadership qualiites for all involved.

at this point in my life i feel physically strong and have good stamina...and if not injured in anyway, i'd like to think i could survive under spartan circumstances...at least for a while.

i guess the rest would unfold as time went on.

[ssandra]

I think I would be a "leader", although maybe not in the traditional sense of the word. I would never force people to stay with me, or listen to me, but I do think that I have a strong enough personality and (more important) inventive enough personality.

First thing I would do, is go to a supermarket and find as much eatable stuff as possible, especially things like apples and healthy stuff, but also canned food that stays good for a long time.

I would look for the library and find books on eatable plants and How To books on surviving, growing your own food, raising cattle etc.

I would move myself out of the city (where bodies are and therefore decease) to an area where we could easily establish a community with enough food.

I would establish a community where we look after eachother. We would learn again to live from nature. I would try and minimize the dependence in machines and electricity, for the future build-up.

If I still live where I live now (Belgium) I would move further south, where it is warmer. If I would be back in Mexico I would stay there.

I think I would be inventive enough to make life work... without dying from stepping on rusty nails.

[Plays With Life]

Interesting that not a single person said no, so far.

[MidasGirl]

Thought provoking question. My answer is: I don't know.

[ssandra]

Originally Posted by MidasGirl

Thought provoking question. My answer is: I don't know.

Of course you won´t know.. none of us would know unless it would happen.. but, based on your past decisions and your caracter, what do you think would happen?

[Dimond]

Most likely yes, since I have a lot of strength and experience with surviving against tremendous odds. Ideally I would live in a small community, which is where I've been planning on living someday anyhow. I would try to survive on plenty of raw food (fresh or dried) regardless of where I'm at. Most dried raw food lasts a long time and is way more nutritious than canned. Even some dried non-raw is better.

Since I prefer a minimalist lifestyle (less material things, versatile products, etc.), I think that would make things easier in a lot of ways. My lack of certain skills (wilderness, gardening, etc.) could hold me back some. Hopefully I would either obtain more skills by then, learn quickly or be with someone with the skills.

[MidasGirl]

Originally Posted by ssandra

Of course you won´t know.. none of us would know unless it would happen.. but, based on your past decisions and your caracter, what do you think would happen?

My past decisions and my character are very aligned with my answer -- I hate to be put in a position as to make hypothetical decisions, especially regarding imagined catastrophic events

[Wax Frog]

I voted "kill myself", but with a qualifier. Given the likely conditions following such a calamity, I'd prefer to go quickly. So, given advance warning, I'd at least figuratively paint a bullseye on my chest and go out looking for an incoming ICBM/meteor/etc.

A Dimond I am not.

[Ilikedeadpeople]

Great thread. And it is interesting that no one has said "no" yet.

I'd establish a small tribe of surviving people who were capable of fighting other developing tribes. There would be nursing positions to care for the poisoned and soon-to-die members of our tribe within the headquarters. The soon-to-die cant be discarded completely but also cant be expected to be out in whats left of the world to fight for survival.

Eventually through a bartering system of food, water and ammunition (and probably porn, knowing mankind) my tribe would get bigger, more powerful, and absorb other tribes. Corrupt members would be tied to old telephone poles and left to be marauded by the next tribe passing through.

[Daffy Duck]

I think most of us would have a good bit of trouble. We (the general we) usually don't know how to garden and plow fields. We usually don't know a lot of things. If all technology and information was wiped out, who among us could perform surgery, or recreate electricity on a large or small scale, or so on? Much of human knowledge would be lost and we'd have to start over again. Some people speculate that this has already happened before.

If you want a test, go live in a forest for 30 days without any supplies. I know I'd be in trouble.

[Ilikedeadpeople]

Thats right daffy duck, we'd have to re-learn all the basics again.
Ive been in a wilderness situation (aka "lost, hungry, thirsty, tired") that made me realize I how many layers of civilization and modern life I had built up around me. These layers were immediately useless and I had to fall back on instinct and plain physical endurance to get out. I felt very basic and nervous.

[DummyChef]

enjoy your every minutes of your life if nobody and nothing can avoid the disaster.

[lifetimelearner]

I have been avoiding this question because it is so thought-provokingly scary

if you think about it we are so spoiled nowadays !

my answer would be based on my family -if they died I would not want to live

[Ilikedeadpeople]

Yes that is ideal, that all your family members lived with you, but if they didnt, and you survived, you might not throw yourself off a bridge.

Plenty of people lost family in the Donner Party and had to eat them to live. To preserve some small hope of sanity, the non-family members would mix up the human meat with other recently deceased so the family didnt have to know if they were eating their own members or not.

The point being, our survival instinct is capable of great things, and we wont know what they are until it is tested.

[YourHumbleNarrator]

Considering the insane things I've survived by will alone, I don't think mere cataclysm would be enough to kill me unless I happened to be in the blast radius.

[Andrew Brunelle]

It probably wouldn't be worth it to stick around and watch all the suffering. If the disaster didn't kill me, I'ld be looking up Kevorkian's number

[ssandra]

Originally Posted by lifetimelearner

I have been avoiding this question because it is so thought-provokingly scary

I really enjoy pondering these things.. I have several scenarios that I sometimes play in my head.

Of course I am very used to civilisation and stuff, but I do think I would be inventive enough to make it work.

For the first few years you have back up food from the supermarket anyway. There are enough libraries and books available where you can learn to grow your own food.

And how difficult can it be? You put seeds in the ground, you give them some water, you wait until it grows and you´re done. Millions of people have done it, and are doing it.
How to find plants you can eat? You have books on that... with pretty pictures

I would be entertaining and something different for a change (Well, without all the suffering and stuff, that would be less nice).

[Trezker]

I like post apocalyptic games and movies. It's a very interesting world where things are unexlored again. We may of course have maps, but we have no idea what areas have people in them anymore or where we might find treasure.

I think I'd do my best to survive. I'd be searching for supplies and allies.

[Plays With Life]

I really liked the book Earth Abides, about this kind of thing happening. Suddenly, inexplicably, almost everyone on the planet disappears. The tiny group that survives learns to live in the cities by eating canned food from supermarkets and storehouses (OK, more happens than that). They live this way for decades and decades. Soon the generation who lived through the event nears end, and the only people left have NO IDEA how to make food. They've lived on this canned food their entire lives. Bummer.