survival of the fittest

[Sunna]

in the west ,

we have the best

food

armys

health care

housing

roads
the list could go on for ever.

but would westen people make the best survivers .

[Midnitemo]

no...weve gotten very soft through good living

[Highlander]

I think that island people have a better chance that most of the Europeans, history has shown we have [ or had ] the right spirit, but western nations as a whole are well behind the third world countries,... many of them have been practicing this preping lark all their lives

[bigpaul]

its not the survival of the fittest, its whether you can ADAPT to changing circumstances!!

[Nix]

Agree with all of the above.

Westerners have risen way above other countries in terms of technology and standard of living. That might very well be their downfall. The higher they raise themselves, the less chance they're gonna survive if they fall!

[MaryN]

As far as I'm concerned, as soon as you start to rely too heavily on technology you've pretty much had it! I'm trying to revive the old ways of doing things for my family (and they're so much cheaper!). Instead of throwing away learn how to recycle, mend, repair....and survive.

[Timelord]

Consider this - If the mass of population in the West are too soft or techno dependent to survive very long, then that could mean those that are left have a bigger pot to piss in - or to phrase that differently - could have a bigger catchment of resources with less survivors laying claim to it. now imagine what it would be like if society went down the drain in one of those third world countries with a sizable population. Ok, so they might cope as a nation longer than we could or individually - but if it did all go t*ts up, then they do not have any reserves in the first place. It could get quite nasty over there with a lot of population surviving initially or possibly throughout a slower decline. This might evolve into warfare & starvation & even ethnic cleansing?? who knows, but it goes on regular anyway in third world countries, such as some of those in Africa.
Not that it would feature in the worries of any UK based survivor at the time, just that it was a comparison between technologically advanced countries and those not so. It is just one particular hypothesis. Regards, TL.

[bigpaul]

(8 September 2013, 01:08)Timelord Wrote: Consider this - If the mass of population in the West are too soft or techno dependent to survive very long, then that could mean those that are left have a bigger pot to piss in - or to phrase that differently - could have a bigger catchment of resources with less survivors laying claim to it.

that is my thinking exactly TL!

[Scythe13]

This is an interesting thought. I think it was HL that said, last year, that our natural survival instinct has been dulled. I would tend to agree with that.

But to make a comparrison with a third world country, they don't tend to live into their 40's even in times of plenty. As Rowanda and Zimbabwe have shown, when stuff goes wrong, it goes crazy! I don't think the UK could get like that, because we would be better equipped to grow our own stuff.

As for survival of the fittest; Darwin listed 8 or 9 attributes, fittest, strongest, most intelligent, fastest to adapt, etc. I think ignoring this whole list makes a person fail on the Intelligence characteristic for sure. Same as neglecting an element of the list, regardless of what that element is.

As we all know, survival is an individual thing, and on a long enough timeline, our survival odds are reduced to zero anyway. As an individual, I believe it is best to develop ourselves as much as possible. Will other people survive? Sure. But I care more about my personal survival, and so I work best to learn how to survive. That just happens to be how the ancients of this country survived. So best I learn those techniques.

If a tribal person came over here to survive, the different weather, fauna and floura would not allow the person much local knowledge. He would know the skills, but not necessarily be able to transfer them quickly enough to survive, e.g. Loincloth vs British winter.

[Sunna]

wherever europeans have gone ,austrailia , usa , africa, within a few hundred years they have made a land of milk and honey.
if you look at austrailia 250 years ago the people living their had no metal tools , books , ect they were stone age and from nothing europians have turned that place into a wonderfull place.

we are and always have been the best at adapting .