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I'm a fan of the Alone series on the History channel. Contestants are dropped off in a remote location and have to survive on their own with minimal gear. All o

I'm a fan of the Alone series on the History channel. Contestants are dropped off in a remote location and have to survive on their own with minimal gear. All of them are highly trained in hunting, wilderness survival, etc. but only the best (and luckiest) make it past two months. Humans are not meant to live alone. Even a small group could divide the labor and survive orders of magnitudes longer than a single individual. The most important survival gear is family and community.

zingababba 3y ago
I like that show also. It's interesting how some people seem to be able to go into a semi-hibernative, almost meditative state and others aren't.
goodbyesf 3y ago
[flagged]
- InitialLastName 3y ago
  I think you're getting down-voted because instead of adding to the conversation, you took a swipe at an off-topic straw man.
- walthamstow 3y ago
  You've been downvoted, though not by me, because you introduced a petty insult about an unrelated topic. You then doubled down with an even pettier edit. It's not rocket science mate.
  - goodbyesf 3y ago
    > You've been downvoted, though not by me, because you introduced a petty insult about an unrelated topic. What's unrelated? Many vegans claim that veganism is the natural human diet. That humans originally were vegan but became meat eaters. I've come across crazy vegans here who spout that nonsense. > You then doubled down with an even pettier edit. It's not rocket science mate. My guess is only silly vegans would take truth as a petty insult. Also, I really don't care about the downvotes. I know why I was downvoted by silly vegans. My edit was a lure more than anything. So I can get a big laugh at their expense.
    - ndriscoll 3y ago
      Maybe many vegans claim that, but you can find many of any group that claims something because there are many people. Most vegans will probably warn you that the diet is likely to be nutritionally incomplete and require B12 supplementation, for example.
- ForestCritter 3y ago
  [flagged]
ethbr1 3y ago
I'm another fan! One of my observations, not sure if an artifact of editing or accurate, is how everyone progressively talks about missing their families more and more right before they decide to tap out. The winner from last season(?) mostly seemed to win by keeping relentlessly positive, whatever happened on a given day, thinking of his family fondly, and keeping his mind engaged with hobby crafts (i.e. making a fancier X for his shelter).
bwv848 3y ago
You do realize that Alone has a lot of limitations, right? The show begins at the start of winter. Participants are geofenced, and hunting activities must abide by local laws. Not to mention, they don't even get to choose their sites, which is crucial in a real-life survival situation.
- 1-more 3y ago
  The way they handle bears is very limited, for instance. Humanity's main defenses against bears have been 1) being in groups of more than one person and 2) sometimes you gotta kill a bear. In Alone you've got your airhorn and bear mace and that's it. I will say I enjoyed the early episode of one of the seasons on Vancouver Island where a cop tapped out within a day or two because there were bears. He even said (I'm paraphrasing) that he's not used to not being able to shoot them or call for help on a radio.
claudiulodro 3y ago
Agreed it would be way easier to survive as part of a small tribe rather than fully alone, but I wouldn't use the TV show Alone as proof. They purposely pick some of the least hospitable places for life, drop people off at the end of fall with no summer to stock up/prepare, contestants have to follow all the local regulations around how/what game they hunt, and (most importantly) nobody is allowed a gun. Plenty of small-time trappers and other pioneers survived on their own during the westward expansion!

zingababba 3y ago

I like that show also. It's interesting how some people seem to be able to go into a semi-hibernative, almost meditative state and others aren't.

goodbyesf 3y ago

[flagged]

InitialLastName 3y ago
I think you're getting down-voted because instead of adding to the conversation, you took a swipe at an off-topic straw man.
walthamstow 3y ago
You've been downvoted, though not by me, because you introduced a petty insult about an unrelated topic. You then doubled down with an even pettier edit. It's not rocket science mate.
- goodbyesf 3y ago
  > You've been downvoted, though not by me, because you introduced a petty insult about an unrelated topic. What's unrelated? Many vegans claim that veganism is the natural human diet. That humans originally were vegan but became meat eaters. I've come across crazy vegans here who spout that nonsense. > You then doubled down with an even pettier edit. It's not rocket science mate. My guess is only silly vegans would take truth as a petty insult. Also, I really don't care about the downvotes. I know why I was downvoted by silly vegans. My edit was a lure more than anything. So I can get a big laugh at their expense.
  - ndriscoll 3y ago
    Maybe many vegans claim that, but you can find many of any group that claims something because there are many people. Most vegans will probably warn you that the diet is likely to be nutritionally incomplete and require B12 supplementation, for example.
ForestCritter 3y ago
[flagged]

ethbr1 3y ago

I'm another fan! One of my observations, not sure if an artifact of editing or accurate, is how everyone progressively talks about missing their families more and more right before they decide to tap out. The winner from last season(?) mostly seemed to win by keeping relentlessly positive, whatever happened on a given day, thinking of his family fondly, and keeping his mind engaged with hobby crafts (i.e. making a fancier X for his shelter).

bwv848 3y ago

You do realize that Alone has a lot of limitations, right? The show begins at the start of winter. Participants are geofenced, and hunting activities must abide by local laws. Not to mention, they don't even get to choose their sites, which is crucial in a real-life survival situation.

1-more 3y ago
The way they handle bears is very limited, for instance. Humanity's main defenses against bears have been 1) being in groups of more than one person and 2) sometimes you gotta kill a bear. In Alone you've got your airhorn and bear mace and that's it. I will say I enjoyed the early episode of one of the seasons on Vancouver Island where a cop tapped out within a day or two because there were bears. He even said (I'm paraphrasing) that he's not used to not being able to shoot them or call for help on a radio.

claudiulodro 3y ago

Agreed it would be way easier to survive as part of a small tribe rather than fully alone, but I wouldn't use the TV show Alone as proof. They purposely pick some of the least hospitable places for life, drop people off at the end of fall with no summer to stock up/prepare, contestants have to follow all the local regulations around how/what game they hunt, and (most importantly) nobody is allowed a gun. Plenty of small-time trappers and other pioneers survived on their own during the westward expansion!