# Larry Niven's "Inconstant Moon" comes true. What do you do? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 5, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-nivens-inconstant-moon-comes-true-what-do-you-do/598713 "2011-10-05T18:50:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-nivens-inconstant-moon-comes-true-what-do-you-do/598713/61 "2011-10-12T21:21:07Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > Originally Posted by **aruvqan** [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/images/buttons/viewpost.gif](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=14327719#post14327719) > … Fencing materials … > Foils, sabres and epees? Katana 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![humanhabitat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b38774/32.png) [@humanhabitat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/humanhabitat)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-nivens-inconstant-moon-comes-true-what-do-you-do/598713/62 "2011-10-18T04:07:24Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Does Stan try verifying his hypothesis by, say, telephoning somebody in Asia or Australia? That’s what I’d do before taking any drastic action. > > For that matter, I could try pinging random Asian and Australian IP addresses, like 137.172.10.0. igornance is bliss. why ruin someone elses day… ---
**Author:** ![projectmolcos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ab992/32.png) [@projectmolcos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/projectmolcos)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-nivens-inconstant-moon-comes-true-what-do-you-do/598713/63 "2011-10-18T12:39:44Z")
Only thing you can do is grab your ankles and kiss your ass goodbye! ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-nivens-inconstant-moon-comes-true-what-do-you-do/598713/64 "2011-10-20T16:21:08Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > Well, I’m an old childless female, but inspired by my anthropology major in college, I once taught myself how to chip flint into crude arrowheads and spear points. Would that earn me a spot in a primitive economy? There are an awful lot of knives around. The crappiest dollar-store stamped steel blade is going to be better than any chipped-flint point. Even if we run out of those, tin-snipped sheet metal sharpened on a stone is still going to be way better. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-nivens-inconstant-moon-comes-true-what-do-you-do/598713/65 "2011-10-20T16:36:00Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > There are an awful lot of knives around. The crappiest dollar-store stamped steel blade is going to be better than any chipped-flint point. Even if we run out of those, tin-snipped sheet metal sharpened on a stone is still going to be way better. Maybe. But the fact that Teela knows how to chip flint is going to indicate, to me, that she has the overall brains & initiative to make herself useful in other ways. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-nivens-inconstant-moon-comes-true-what-do-you-do/598713/66 "2011-10-20T16:51:20Z")
I can make flatbreads, and make yogurt, and butter, and could probably remember how to milk a cow. It’s been a while. I can do a fair amount of domestic stuff. But, honestly, as has been mentioned, I would not want to be a woman leftover in a post-apocalyptic world. It’s a bad life all around, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-nivens-inconstant-moon-comes-true-what-do-you-do/598713/67 "2011-10-20T17:48:44Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I can make flatbreads, and make yogurt, and butter, and could probably remember how to milk a cow. It’s been a while. I can do a fair amount of domestic stuff. > > But, honestly, as has been mentioned, I would not want to be a woman leftover in a post-apocalyptic world. It’s a bad life all around, IMO. Athena gave us guns for a reason, Mika. It’s to EQUALIZE. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-nivens-inconstant-moon-comes-true-what-do-you-do/598713/68 "2011-10-20T20:16:56Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Athena gave us guns for a reason, Mika. It’s to EQUALIZE. Not really - it’s to take the power out of the hands of the person without the gun, and put it into the hands of the person with one. But a gun’s a poor tool for making a living in a post-IM scenario and, at best, is useful only as long as you have ammunition and can keep it in working order. In the longer term, not so much. Sadly, I fear feminism is an affordable luxury only for a wealthy industrialized society, but who knows? If some of our new primitives find a gender-equality model more effective and efficient then it will out-compete the bad old sexists into extinction. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-nivens-inconstant-moon-comes-true-what-do-you-do/598713/69 "2011-10-20T20:30:46Z")
> [@ruh-roh](#): > > Black Capsule > > Suicide Is Painless… It brings on many changes. No, no, that’s the solution to a fantastically prolonged Korean War. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-nivens-inconstant-moon-comes-true-what-do-you-do/598713/70 "2011-10-20T21:06:45Z")
That’s why I like my swords. No moving parts, and they never jam. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-nivens-inconstant-moon-comes-true-what-do-you-do/598713/71 "2011-10-20T22:49:57Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > That’s why I like my swords. No moving parts, and they never jam. Yup - a gun will run out of bullets faster than a blade will run out of sharp. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-nivens-inconstant-moon-comes-true-what-do-you-do/598713/72 "2011-10-21T01:52:03Z")
Unless you maintain it pretty meticulously, a blade will run out of sharp very quickly. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-nivens-inconstant-moon-comes-true-what-do-you-do/598713/73 "2011-10-21T03:11:54Z")
I’d assume the flare was going to be somewhat survivable, and head for the nearest military base. A large army base (Ft. Carson in Colorado Springs) is nearby me, so I’d want to be there. If anyone’s going to survive the apocalypse with a decent civilization intact it would be a large military base I’d figure. Plus, [Cheyenne Mountain](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheyenne_Mountain) (Stargate Command! 🙂 ) is right there too basically. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-nivens-inconstant-moon-comes-true-what-do-you-do/598713/74 "2011-10-21T22:28:25Z")
If you were a super wealthy what would you to prepare, now? What could you do with your money? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-nivens-inconstant-moon-comes-true-what-do-you-do/598713/75 "2011-10-21T22:31:00Z")
Buy a couple of old missile silos. They go for relatively cheap, and can be re-fitted as a survival bunker easily. They tend to be in isolated areas, with clear fields of fire to keep away zombies and hippies and the like. Just ride out the chaos in style and emerge to rule the Wasteland as its OverLord. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larry-nivens-inconstant-moon-comes-true-what-do-you-do/598713.md?page=3)