# A new start, on a new Earth **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 10, 2015, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-start-on-a-new-earth/709467 "2015-01-10T13:34:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-start-on-a-new-earth/709467/21 "2015-01-10T21:37:09Z")
How about the Northwest coast of the US (WA, CA and OR)? Tons and tons of wildlife and sea-life, pretty mild climate, tons of room to expand… survival would be almost trivially easy, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-start-on-a-new-earth/709467/22 "2015-01-10T21:45:19Z")
No Africa. The issues of Guinea Worms, Sleeping Sickness, & all the rest, make it a rotten choice. The juncture of the Ohio & Allegheny Rivers in Pennsylvania looks good. Farmland, wood, coal, oil, iron, copper & I believe tin. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-start-on-a-new-earth/709467/23 "2015-01-10T23:32:20Z")
> [@Twoflower](#): > > [The Long Earth](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Earth). And what a disappointing book that was. The answers probably depend on what sort of culture our group dreams of creating. If they are not fantasizing of being “noble savages” then … Location - generally speaking the historically dominant cultures of the world (China, India, Greco-Roman, the shared cultural heritage that is Judaism Christianity and Islam, Egypt, so on …) all emerged out of a band across the world at about 20 to 35 degrees north. Good agriculture climate. I want to be in a location that we can spread out as we grow to help delay future conflicts over resources. Somewhere Mediterranean seems good. But lots of places in that band would do, as noted ideally also near coastline and/or multiple major rivers. Kit would be initial clothing to survive a variety of sudden changing weather conditions, basic hunting, agricultural, mining and smelting tools and supplies, medical supplies, and a very good library of practical knowledge. I’d want the group to be well rounded with people who knew how to construct cross bows, make gun powder, smelt and cast metals, build stuff including shelter, ships, and maybe even planes, doctors who knew how to make medicines from scratch, teachers, so on. 2000 is enough that we can have some teams each with special expertise and be able to produce native technologies pretty quickly. I also want some musicians and artists. And despite the old line of “the first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers” I want some system of enforceable law to come with us too. Interested? Not so much. My skill sets and lifestyle preferences are too custom fit for the modern world. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-start-on-a-new-earth/709467/24 "2015-01-11T00:46:48Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > 2000 people seems like a lot for an initial colony that will - regardless of what you bring with you barring Star Trek replicators - end up subsistence pretty quickly. > > So break it into 10 groups of 200 in family. Small towns and villages. Hopefully placed at the mouths of rivers without a lot of marshland. I think this would be a recipe for wars in the future when the groups eventually meet up with each other. My guess is that one large group would be a lot less likely to lead to wars if planned correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-start-on-a-new-earth/709467/25 "2015-01-11T13:29:08Z")
> [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](#): > > This, almost to the word. Southern English winters are usually mild, and it’s not at all unusual for them to be snow-free right through. They are now, yes, but you can’t guarantee it. Going south to the Med gives you a much better chance of year-round decent weather. ---
**Author:** ![Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ac8455/32.png) [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Your_Great_Darsh_Face)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-start-on-a-new-earth/709467/26 "2015-01-11T13:52:26Z")
More volcanoes and earthquakes though - although that would depend on how parallel the Earths actually were. Little Ice Ages give you frost fairs on the Thames for a few decades, but ISTR that in Roman times it was possible to plant vineyards in Northumbria. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-start-on-a-new-earth/709467/27 "2015-01-11T14:44:46Z")
> [@Teuton](#): > > They are now, yes, but you can’t guarantee it. Going south to the Med gives you a much better chance of year-round decent weather. The summers are often too hot and there’s the possible problem of a great sub-human barbarian horde. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-start-on-a-new-earth/709467/28 "2015-01-11T16:45:17Z")
One thing I would want to take: books on the traditional architecture of the area, and on other techniques people used to deal with the weather conditions. Pottery, clothing, recipes that keep well (preferably leaning minimalist, and focusing on plants and animals which in our world were native to that area). The kind of architecture that makes perfect sense in Sweden would make very little in Sumer, and vice versa. ---
**Author:** ![Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ac8455/32.png) [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Your_Great_Darsh_Face)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-start-on-a-new-earth/709467/29 "2015-01-11T17:24:01Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > I think this would be a recipe for wars in the future when the groups eventually meet up with each other. My guess is that one large group would be a lot less likely to lead to wars if planned correctly. What might be a very sensible compromise would be to have the colonists split into ten to twenty groups, but each settlement no more than a day’s journey from at least two others, and all of them within reach of a seasonal fair or parliament. I think you need all your colonists close enough together to maintain the full genetic base for several generations, and strongly encourage marriage outside the settlement where you were born. This would spread you out over a smallish English county or equivalent to begin with. Allowing for having to rebuild industry and technology from small beginnings, I think you might need as many as 200 people in each settlement just to have the necessary technical specialists on hand, since they’d be a smallish fraction of the whole - although it wouldn’t be too hard to whistle up your single goldsmith, say, from wherever she lived in the county; other craftsfolk would be more needed on a day-to-day basis. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-start-on-a-new-earth/709467/30 "2015-01-11T18:56:22Z")
One thing to worry about is what kind of disease we might face. Since there’s no humans yet, I could see it seeming almost disease free at first. Then the colony gets slack about it and they get hit hard. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-start-on-a-new-earth/709467/31 "2015-01-11T19:39:47Z")
> [@Teuton](#): > > I was going to mention this in the OP, but figured it would confuse things as it’s not the same situation. Does the Long Earth not posit easy transfer between the worlds? The short story it’s based on (the High Meggers, I think) does. Is that book worth a read? Its caught my eye on a couple of occassions now. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-start-on-a-new-earth/709467/32 "2015-01-11T19:57:28Z")
No other fans of the US Pacific NW coast for this? Cool summers, mild winters, plenty of tasty wildlife and sea-life… ---
**Author:** ![Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrogance_ex_machina/32/192_2.png) [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrogance_Ex_Machina)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-start-on-a-new-earth/709467/33 "2015-01-11T20:36:56Z")
> [@Disposable Hero](#): > > Is that book worth a read? Its caught my eye on a couple of occassions now. I’m a big fan of both of the authors (more Pratchett than Baxter but I’ve read both) and to me it felt like their weakest work. I had no trouble finishing it but it mostly just introduces a very interesting premise and then doesn’t do much with it. ---
**Author:** ![Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ac8455/32.png) [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Your_Great_Darsh_Face)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-start-on-a-new-earth/709467/34 "2015-01-11T20:37:36Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > No other fans of the US Pacific NW coast for this? Cool summers, mild winters, plenty of tasty wildlife and sea-life… What about the megafauna? Aren’t there some potentially dangerous animals in that part of the world? There won’t be modern firearms for long, not after the founder supply dries up and until the tech picks up to the necessary level again. > [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](#): > > I’m a big fan of both of the authors (more Pratchett than Baxter but I’ve read both) and to me it felt like their weakest work. I had no trouble finishing it but it mostly just introduces a very interesting premise and then doesn’t do much with it. This, really. The idea of all these parallel worlds is interesting and there’s a story in there, but not as it turns out a wildly gripping one compared to many others. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-start-on-a-new-earth/709467/35 "2015-01-11T21:16:59Z")
> [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](#): > > What about the megafauna? Aren’t there some potentially dangerous animals in that part of the world? There won’t be modern firearms for long, not after the founder supply dries up and until the tech picks up to the necessary level again. To defend against animals, we probably wouldn’t need modern firearms. Bows would be fine, and could pretty easily be made and maintained, and flintlock weapons wouldn’t require much beyond the ability to smelt metal and smiths/craftsmen. And there’s always fire – animals don’t attack people (I’m pretty sure) who are carrying torches. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-start-on-a-new-earth/709467/36 "2015-01-11T22:18:21Z")
> [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](#): > > I’m a big fan of both of the authors (more Pratchett than Baxter but I’ve read both) and to me it felt like their weakest work. I had no trouble finishing it but it mostly just introduces a very interesting premise and then doesn’t do much with it. Ah OK, thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-start-on-a-new-earth/709467/37 "2015-01-11T23:06:17Z")
Bring Horses. And Goats. [Angora Goats.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angora_goat) For Meat, Milk, Cheese, and [Mohair.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohair) ---
**Author:** ![DingoelGringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@DingoelGringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DingoelGringo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-start-on-a-new-earth/709467/38 "2015-01-11T23:15:55Z")
#3 first, yes sign me up. Problem at close to 70 yrs old I don’t expect they’d want me. #2 Why not take as much electronic equip as fits. Have all the knowledge of earthlings as possible and branch off from there A few months worth of food should be enuff, because we’d have proper equipment to test plants and animals where we go to see if they’d be good for food. No reason for tasters to try some and see if they keel over or not. #1 would be the north coast of Australia Panama or Northern S America would also be good choices weather wise. And from there descendants could spread out North and South. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-start-on-a-new-earth/709467/39 "2015-01-11T23:23:40Z")
Not near the ocean! Tsunamis could wipe out the whole colony in one stroke. If dispersed slightly, inland colonies would be far safer. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-start-on-a-new-earth/709467/40 "2015-01-12T00:15:02Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > No other fans of the US Pacific NW coast for this? Cool summers, mild winters, plenty of tasty wildlife and sea-life… The Americas are smaller than Eurasia, and at least in our timeline didn’t support the variety of plants and animals that the Eastern Hemisphere did (big question of whether Indians or the end of the Ice Age killed off American megafauna). The Pacific Northwest is rather boxed in by the Rockies to the east, the Pacific to the west, desert to the south and land too cold for most agriculture to the north. Remember, we don’t want our colonists to go all the way back to the hunter-gatherer level, we want them to have the most advanced tech their numbers can support. Better resources and more room for expansion elsewhere. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-start-on-a-new-earth/709467.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-start-on-a-new-earth/709467.md?page=3)