# Unpleasant truths about a genuine apocalypse (a thought experiment) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 1, 2018, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unpleasant-truths-about-a-genuine-apocalypse-a-thought-experiment/813397 "2018-05-01T08:29:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unpleasant-truths-about-a-genuine-apocalypse-a-thought-experiment/813397/81 "2018-05-04T01:09:45Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > The Amish will be wiped out by looters and bandits - they are very much anti-violence, even for self-defense…yeah, it will be very ugly for the Amish. Yep, as long as there are other people around having firearms isn’t going to do them much good if they aren’t willing to use them on human beings. > [@Grim\_Render](#): > > As an asides on the book series in question:…The time of the intervention was March 17, 1998, 6.15 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. Thanks! I was never able to get into the Emberverse like I did the Nantucket trilogy. Did they have explain how-why AD 1998 Nantucket was swapped with 1250 BC Nantucket? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unpleasant-truths-about-a-genuine-apocalypse-a-thought-experiment/813397/82 "2018-05-04T01:30:29Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > And as I said, there really has never been such a thing as an apocalypse in history, aside from the collapse of the Americas post 1492. Right, and that was a plague that was estimated to have killed approximately 96% of the Native Americans along the east coast. If that happened today, there would still be over 13 million Americans. You could spend two to three generations running, fixing and salvaging equipment and tearing down entire cities and small towns for the parts, metals and other materials. At a certain point in growth, you’d still be doing that, yet also mining and re-establishing previously salvaged areas. Hell, we’d probably still have working airlines and internet. ---
**Author:** ![MarvinKitFox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@MarvinKitFox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarvinKitFox)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unpleasant-truths-about-a-genuine-apocalypse-a-thought-experiment/813397/83 "2018-05-05T09:19:42Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > … what is the _minimum_ catastrophe that would satisfy OP’s needs? One simple, plausible scenario… The sun goes a _bit_ more unstable than normal, and we start getting a Carrington-event-class solar storm every couple months. ByeBye all electronics, ByeBye all power transmission lines, Seriously degrade anything that uses electric current and/or magnetic fields to work. . This would leave all humans alive and (mostly) healthy, but completely halt all long distance transport and communication abilities. Technologically, it would put us back in the 1850’s or so. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unpleasant-truths-about-a-genuine-apocalypse-a-thought-experiment/813397/84 "2018-05-05T12:24:13Z")
We had long-distance transport in the 1850’s. In fact, we had global trade in the 1850’s. We just used different technology. But yeah, the initial adjustment period would be hellish. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unpleasant-truths-about-a-genuine-apocalypse-a-thought-experiment/813397/85 "2018-05-05T13:32:48Z")
I’m firmly in the camp that in the apocalypse we’ll run out of people to shoot well before we run out of ammo or our guns all break beyond our ability to repair them. That’s certainly not true of everyone: There are a bunch of city slickers in NYC that think guns are icky, for example. Those guys might be trying to use a bow and arrows, but for vast swaths of the country there are enough people with dozens of guns and many thousands of rounds of ammuntion, that will still have some around to shoot people for decades. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unpleasant-truths-about-a-genuine-apocalypse-a-thought-experiment/813397/86 "2018-05-05T14:52:50Z")
For extra insurance I’m going with guns _and_ my crossbow - which is easy since I already own one. Although maintenance and repair to keep a 'bow a viable weapon is required just as maintenance is required for a gun. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unpleasant-truths-about-a-genuine-apocalypse-a-thought-experiment/813397.md?page=4)