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While we're on the subject of survival activities, another worthwhile approach might be to focus effort on more thorough adaptation to the conditions at hand in

While we're on the subject of survival activities, another worthwhile approach might be to focus effort on more thorough adaptation to the conditions at hand in ways that more primitive cultures had no other choice but to thrive under. Hey how about living and working without air conditioning near the gulf coast of Texas or someplace like that, rather than expending such significant energy maintaining quite small enclosures in a state of foreign climate simulation? Sessions of virtually zero energy consumption for other reasons can be rewarding too if you wanted to go a step further. A bit of that and you might be better prepared for some of the more realistic threats such as hurricanes, floods, power interruption, or whatever there is in the local environment that needs to be adapted to. It's not that difficult especially when you realize locals lived better adapted for centuries, but people are about as likely to practice applicable survival skills as they are to be taking Neanderthal lessons. If it gets real bad I expect we'll go downright medieval long before we reach full cave man.

emodendroket 9y ago
People in the past didn't work on regimented schedules or expect this or that to be open at regular hours. What you're proposing is essentially undoing the industrial revolution.
- fuzzfactor 9y ago
  No, no, no, that was one of my favorite revolutions, I'm so industrial it scares people. Still I do remember a slower time when 7-11 was the only thing open on Sunday or outside of 9-5 otherwise, naturally it was open from 7am to 11pm. What I mean is when you see the way that thousands of people across multiple disasters react to complete loss of power for an uncertain period, it depends strongly on the confidence in abilities to survive without very much beyond the bare necessities. Probably just as much as the actual abilities. To me this makes post-industrial survival exercises as worthwhile as some of the paleo enthusiasts have reported here about their experiences already.
closeparen 9y ago
>how about living and working without air conditioning near the gulf coast of Texas or someplace like that The primitive adaptation to these conditions was to not live in them. Population and economic growth in the South is largely attributed to air conditioning. Many of the places we settle are not suitable for human habitation without substantial terraforming, energy expenditure, and medical care. Chicago, for example, was built on a swamp. It took a massive Army Corps of Engineers project to make it livable. Other cities had massive baseline casualty rates until a combination of medical research and sewer projects got pathogens under control. Early universities let out their students in the summer not because they needed to work as farmhands (the origin story for summer breaks in K12) but because they would all die of infectious disease if they lived in such close quarters while it was warm outside. There are ways to live without modern technology, but it's foolish to try to do so regardless of where you currently happen to be. To find a suitable site and methods for this experiment, look at where and how the homeless thrive. In particular, places where the temperature regulation problem is more or less nonexistent, like the SFBA.

emodendroket 9y ago

People in the past didn't work on regimented schedules or expect this or that to be open at regular hours. What you're proposing is essentially undoing the industrial revolution.

fuzzfactor 9y ago
No, no, no, that was one of my favorite revolutions, I'm so industrial it scares people. Still I do remember a slower time when 7-11 was the only thing open on Sunday or outside of 9-5 otherwise, naturally it was open from 7am to 11pm. What I mean is when you see the way that thousands of people across multiple disasters react to complete loss of power for an uncertain period, it depends strongly on the confidence in abilities to survive without very much beyond the bare necessities. Probably just as much as the actual abilities. To me this makes post-industrial survival exercises as worthwhile as some of the paleo enthusiasts have reported here about their experiences already.

closeparen 9y ago

>how about living and working without air conditioning near the gulf coast of Texas or someplace like that The primitive adaptation to these conditions was to not live in them. Population and economic growth in the South is largely attributed to air conditioning. Many of the places we settle are not suitable for human habitation without substantial terraforming, energy expenditure, and medical care. Chicago, for example, was built on a swamp. It took a massive Army Corps of Engineers project to make it livable. Other cities had massive baseline casualty rates until a combination of medical research and sewer projects got pathogens under control. Early universities let out their students in the summer not because they needed to work as farmhands (the origin story for summer breaks in K12) but because they would all die of infectious disease if they lived in such close quarters while it was warm outside. There are ways to live without modern technology, but it's foolish to try to do so regardless of where you currently happen to be. To find a suitable site and methods for this experiment, look at where and how the homeless thrive. In particular, places where the temperature regulation problem is more or less nonexistent, like the SFBA.