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Getting humanity to bounce back faster in a post-apocalyptic world

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Re: Getting humanity to bounce back faster in a post-apocalyptic world

#121

Post by citruscomputing »

nescioquid wrote: post #21
alasdair_ wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Are there any guides for the first two weeks? There are thousands of prepper guides around, depending on how much work you want to do. I'd say a good start would be to think about the pandemic and think about what stuff became hard to get and make sure you have more of that available. Medications are a big one - try to have enough spare to last a couple of months. Having actual cash is important too, as is having c…

> Medications are a big one - try to have enough spare to last a couple of months. I've always wondered about how to carry out this advice for medicines other than what's available OTC. If someone depends on prescription medication, is this possible? How do you ask?

Request a dose increase and maintain taking your current dose.

Re: Getting humanity to bounce back faster in a post-apocalyptic world

#122

Post by madengr »

colechristensen wrote: post #41
jwithington wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's what I'm saying haha. I'm not looking to "prep" and the prepper manuals go overboard for what >99% of people are looking for. I'm looking for the practical things. An emergency action guide of some sort...

Go to a Costco business center and buy a bag of rice, a bag of beans, and some bottled water. Buy some camping gear and cook dinner once in a while over a fire in your back yard or a camp ground. Keep a go bag packed that you could pick up and live out of for a week at a moments notice. Take interest in the things around you and learn how to do things yourself instead of paying other people to do them, even if you do…

No post body was provided.

Re: Getting humanity to bounce back faster in a post-apocalyptic world

#123

Post by wrycoder »

WalterBright wrote: post #64
spekcular wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The top review on Amazon is devastating: "The author purports to provide a blueprint to restoring a technological economy after a TEOTWAWKI event, but some his listed sources are from the realm of science fiction. Not an encouraging start. He goes on to pretend that he knows more than he actually does. It's as if he skimmed a few sources but only superficially understood them. How else can he suggest that a collapsed…

For a Cub Scout project, I built a DC electric motor out of nails, tape, and wire. No special steel sheet.

How many horsepower?

Re: Getting humanity to bounce back faster in a post-apocalyptic world

#124

Post by chasd00 »

To me the most likely scenario is global thermonuclear war. Surviving that and then getting back to normal means finding the stuff/people not broken, fixing the broken things, and not really starting completely over. Granted, after seeing how many people freaked the eff out over the pandemic which is absolutely trivial in comparison to nuclear war I wonder about the mental stability of anyone. Would there be anyone that could be relied on?

Re: Getting humanity to bounce back faster in a post-apocalyptic world

#125

Post by sky-kedge0749 »

colechristensen wrote: post #13
13415 wrote: post #7

I've read his book The Knowledge years ago and it was an eye-opener. I wasn't aware how complex our agricultural and technical societies are and how much they depend on shipping and crude oil. Without oil and shipping, no chemical industry, and without chemical industry no advanced technology and no mass food production. People in supply chain management know that too well but I was simply not aware of how fragile ou…

The worry is overblown. Oil is still used all over the place because it's cheaper than the alternative. When it's not, it'll be replaced. You can straight up synthesize an oil analog from biological sources, and even if you couldn't the oil necessary for non-energy purposes is far far less than that used just to burn. Solar is what is going to replace fossil fuels mostly, it's already cheaper than coal. Like it or no…

There are no viable replacements for fossil fuels for a tremendous number of uses. There is currently no plausible way that, for example, long-distance flights could run entirely off solar.

Your economic analysis of

> Oil is still used all over the place because it's cheaper than the alternative.

has no contradiction with prices skyrocketing. Fossil gasoline might get to $20/ or $50/gallon before it's more expensive than the alternative, and so on for everything else.

"Somewhat more expensive" fertilizer means more expensive food, which means starving people, which is horrible on its own, but which could also create a very dangerous political situation.

Also the risk isn't that we'll run out of fossil fuels, it's that continuing to use fossil fuels would cause so much environmental damage that restricting the supply, as horrible as that would be, would be better than the alternative.

Re: Getting humanity to bounce back faster in a post-apocalyptic world

#126

Post by wrycoder »

ForHackernews wrote: post #85

If you're interested in this topic, you might also be interested to learn about http://collapseos.org/ : "It is a Forth operating system and a collection of tools and documentation with a single purpose: preserve the ability to program microcontrollers through civilizational collapse."

Fifty years ago we had teletype machines with paper tape readers/punches. This was an ideal impedance match of technologies. All the front panel switches and blinking lights on the old computers were to get a boot loader keyed in. The boot loader read the bytes from the teletype. The paper tapes stored the programs.

What is needed for the collapse scenario is the equivalent of the teletype. It can't just be another working computer acting as a terminal. It has to be something we can bootstrap to get the small CPUs lying around working.

Re: Getting humanity to bounce back faster in a post-apocalyptic world

#127

Post by hyperhopper »

ethbr0 wrote: post #31
spekcular wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The top review on Amazon is devastating: "The author purports to provide a blueprint to restoring a technological economy after a TEOTWAWKI event, but some his listed sources are from the realm of science fiction. Not an encouraging start. He goes on to pretend that he knows more than he actually does. It's as if he skimmed a few sources but only superficially understood them. How else can he suggest that a collapsed…

Sounds like an opportunity for a 2nd edition! If Amazon commenters filed pull requests rather than potshots, the world would be a better place. :)

The author isn't sharing the profits, why should people do the work writing his book for him.

If he hosted it on GitHub that would be a different story.

Re: Getting humanity to bounce back faster in a post-apocalyptic world

#128

Post by wrycoder »

nescioquid wrote: post #21
alasdair_ wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Are there any guides for the first two weeks? There are thousands of prepper guides around, depending on how much work you want to do. I'd say a good start would be to think about the pandemic and think about what stuff became hard to get and make sure you have more of that available. Medications are a big one - try to have enough spare to last a couple of months. Having actual cash is important too, as is having c…

> Medications are a big one - try to have enough spare to last a couple of months. I've always wondered about how to carry out this advice for medicines other than what's available OTC. If someone depends on prescription medication, is this possible? How do you ask?

Get a copy of the Chinese book - I think it's called the Barefoot Doctor.

Re: Getting humanity to bounce back faster in a post-apocalyptic world

#129

Post by ggm »

datavirtue wrote: post #92
HeyLaughingBoy wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd supplement that with a few bags of charcoal stored in sealed Rubbermaid garbage tubs and some cigarette lighters -- you need a reliable source of fire and wood's a pain in the ass to depend on outdoors. Also rice & beans gets old. Grab 50lbs of canned meat while you're at it. I took a couple cans of Chinese fried rice (yes, it comes in a can!) on a camping trip once: it was everyone's favorite meal.

If you value freedom you are going to have to be able to move fast at a moment's notice. Preppers do nothing but hoard liability. The local gang is going to own your shit.

If you take a "social good higher good" outcome.. maybe your role in the cycle was to stockpile, not to survive? Dystopia for the individual might still be net beneficial for the species.

I'd hope not, but use value remains, even if you dont? Fictional gangs are asshats and waste it but actual Gangs have distorted rules and hierarchy and sometimes preserve things, not waste them: those Harley spares are hard to find. The quartermaster farms them out judiciously.

Re: Getting humanity to bounce back faster in a post-apocalyptic world

#130

Post by wrycoder »

datavirtue wrote: post #88
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After the first two weeks, there's the first year then the first five years and so on. E.g. Living through the first winter will require a huge effort in stockpiling, which gets better the second year. Scavenging for the first 5 years turns to agriculture and animal husbandry and smelting.

Reality: You do what the local strongman tells you to do.

Yes. If you don't have mutual defense, bandits will clean you out and probably murder you unless you manage to hire the Seven Samurai.
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