If humans were animals, well they are, but if they were animals that had to live like all the other animals in the world, without clothes or buildings or heat or air conditioning, what parts of Earth could humans live?
Since animals don’t wear clothes they are restricted to zones of habitation.
Obviously the tropics would be OK, but then I got to thinking most humans aren’t hairy enough so skin cancer could be an issue. Unless of course they became nocturnal.
I guess over the centuries they might evolve more hair or blubber like seals but if humans had to lived naked and wild without technology, which areas of the Earth would they be able to live in?
Humans would be fine without clothes in many places. Sure we would be cold, and what about skin cancer you can reproduce still. I’d also like to point out that even animals with no clothes still make and live in shelter.
Some animals have heavy coats of fur such as polar bears so they can live in a very cold area. When humans wear heavy coats they can live in the arctic too.
I’ve read that a lot of feral children have had a much greater resistance to cold than we “civilized” folk do. A lot of these feral child stories are hoaxes though so I don’t know how much of this is fact and how much is fiction. If true, your restricted zones of habitation would be significantly wider.
Also, another thing I’ve read is that one of the theories why white skin evolved so quickly is that it allows your body to more easily generate vitamin C from sunlight, which is a useful survival trait in areas where the weather is crappy. I don’t know how much this plays into your survival zones, though, but your assumption that humans are disadvantaged because they don’t have a protective layer of fur may not necessarily be true.
Skin cancer may be an increased risk, but to have a viable population you only need to live long enough to reproduce. Animals in the wild often don’t live as long as animals that are placed in controlled environments and are well taken care of. I’m not sure the skin cancer thing really factors into it that much.
The tropics and subtropics, of course. And that covers more of the globe than you might think: much of Africa and South America, southern Asia, northern Australia, large bands of islands… With shelter and fire for the cooler-weather season (“winter” in the sense that, say, parts of Florida and south Texas experience it), the warmer parts of the temperate zone, including most Mediterranean climates.
And, of course, with relatively high technology, nudist arcologies that include greenhouse areas for food could be built (scheduling construction during warmer weather) across much of the planet. Summer in the populated parts of Canada, for example, is hot – throw up the exterior frame of an arcology in, say Kingston, in the summer, then build the interior during the cold weather, with plenty of heat, and with no one having any reason to go outside during the cold weather.
Finally, the assumption here is purely “no clothes” – nothing defined about technology. So skin cancer is easily dealt with by adequate sun block and controlled tanning.
Also remember that even low-tech, naked humans can migrate. You would not want to live in New England during the winter, but you might be comfortable enough during the summer. You could go back to Florida for the winter. If you permit 10 miles of foot travel per day, then you could feasibly have a range of 1,000 miles or so with a couple months of rest on either side. Boats and domesticated animals can expand that significantly.
On the other hand, I would kind of argue that tools and technology came along with our becoming human. If we found ourselves doing without those, we’d at least be a different kind of human, so we might wonder if maybe other rules had also changed a little.
The idea about annual migrating does put a lot more range on the livable zones, I agree.
Living like animals. Well, other primates build crude shelters or sleeping beds. Most animals build some kind of nest or shelter. Even insects over-winter well in structures they build.
Are we allowed in your situation to build shelter? If yes, then are we limited to what kind of shelter?
A naked human, allowed to build shelter, even if only just with hands, could live in most areas on the planet year round.
Add a few crude tools and well…that’s how we got everywhere.
