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Isolated families surviving does happen indeed. A good example is the Lykov family who were completely isolated for over 40 years. [1][2] However they brought w

by Strom 11y ago

Isolated families surviving does happen indeed. A good example is the Lykov family who were completely isolated for over 40 years. [1][2] However they brought with them tools made by others before starting their isolated life, like steel axes. They also imported education & language. I haven't heard of any isolated family success stories that start without any external help. -- [1] http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/for-40-years-this-russian-family-was-cut-off-from-all-human-contact-unaware-of-world-war-ii-7354256/ http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/for-40-years-this-russ... [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt2AYafET68 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt2AYafET68

lisper 11y ago
> they brought with them tools made by others before starting their isolated life, like steel axes Exactly. This is just a piece of an organism (society) "budding off" and surviving for a while on its own, not unlike an individual ant wandering away from the colony, or Henrietta Lacks's cancer cells (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrietta_Lacks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrietta_Lacks). AFAIK there is not a single example of a human mating pair completely cut off from all technological artifacts and successfully reproducing.
- V-2 11y ago
  While I do believe this hasn't really happened, surely there's a strong observational bias involved ("AFAIK" - but why would you know? :) If they're isolated, chances of learning about them would be very slim by definition)
  - lisper 11y ago
    Actually, we do have some actual data: http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/naked-and-afraid/ http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/naked-and-afraid/ It's not a well controlled experiment, but it's data. Even in that minimalist scenario they have some tools. Because it's just obvious that if you had no tools your odds of survival are pretty frickin' low. People die in the wilderness all the time even with tools.
titzer 11y ago
Humanity survived with nothing more than stone hand axes for thousands of generations, and there are plenty of instances of individuals, even in modern times, surviving in the wilderness, alone, without significant tools for an extended period of time. People have been stranded and survived on deserted islands, alone, for extended periods of time. With a plentiful food source and decent shelter, it's been done many times. It's both harder and easier than you imagine.
- lisper 11y ago
  > with nothing more than stone hand axes And a community of other humans. > it's been done many times I am not aware of even a single instance where a single pair of humans with no technological support successfully reproduced (by which I mean: raised a child until it was old enough to survive independently. Just having a baby doesn't count.) If you know of such a case, please give me a reference.
  - apalmer 11y ago
    What are you talking about? You are completely out of touch with reality. Society is great and is humans natural state... the vast majority of people are going to eventually experience psychological issues due to being alone and will lose the will to live. However being able to successfully hunt and gather enough sustenance to survive without a larger group, is not particularly 'impossible'...
    - lisper 11y ago
      It's not enough to hunt and gather and survive. You have to be able to reproduce. And you have to do it without any tools or clothing or shelter that was produced by civilization. That is very, very hard. It might not be impossible, but AFAIK it has never been done.

by Strom 11y ago

lisper 11y ago

> they brought with them tools made by others before starting their isolated life, like steel axes Exactly. This is just a piece of an organism (society) "budding off" and surviving for a while on its own, not unlike an individual ant wandering away from the colony, or Henrietta Lacks's cancer cells (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrietta_Lacks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrietta_Lacks). AFAIK there is not a single example of a human mating pair completely cut off from all technological artifacts and successfully reproducing.

V-2 11y ago
While I do believe this hasn't really happened, surely there's a strong observational bias involved ("AFAIK" - but why would you know? :) If they're isolated, chances of learning about them would be very slim by definition)
- lisper 11y ago
  Actually, we do have some actual data: http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/naked-and-afraid/ http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/naked-and-afraid/ It's not a well controlled experiment, but it's data. Even in that minimalist scenario they have some tools. Because it's just obvious that if you had no tools your odds of survival are pretty frickin' low. People die in the wilderness all the time even with tools.

titzer 11y ago

Humanity survived with nothing more than stone hand axes for thousands of generations, and there are plenty of instances of individuals, even in modern times, surviving in the wilderness, alone, without significant tools for an extended period of time. People have been stranded and survived on deserted islands, alone, for extended periods of time. With a plentiful food source and decent shelter, it's been done many times. It's both harder and easier than you imagine.

lisper 11y ago
> with nothing more than stone hand axes And a community of other humans. > it's been done many times I am not aware of even a single instance where a single pair of humans with no technological support successfully reproduced (by which I mean: raised a child until it was old enough to survive independently. Just having a baby doesn't count.) If you know of such a case, please give me a reference.
- apalmer 11y ago
  What are you talking about? You are completely out of touch with reality. Society is great and is humans natural state... the vast majority of people are going to eventually experience psychological issues due to being alone and will lose the will to live. However being able to successfully hunt and gather enough sustenance to survive without a larger group, is not particularly 'impossible'...
  - lisper 11y ago
    It's not enough to hunt and gather and survive. You have to be able to reproduce. And you have to do it without any tools or clothing or shelter that was produced by civilization. That is very, very hard. It might not be impossible, but AFAIK it has never been done.