# Would We Want to Survive Nuclear War? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 22, 2005, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-we-want-to-survive-nuclear-war/300574 "2005-04-22T09:39:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-we-want-to-survive-nuclear-war/300574/1 "2005-04-22T09:39:48Z")
Following on from [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=312940) and not wanting to hijack it, my question is if we could survive would we want to? Much infrastructure would be gone, many friends and family members might be dead or dying, food would be in short supply, disease would spread rapidly and that’s not counting the fallout, radiation poisoning, increased likelihood of cancer and nuclear winter. Would there be any quality of life making it worth living or wouldit be better to be at ground zero? Personally I’m still undecided, I like to think that where there is life there is hope, but in such a world would there be any hope? ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-we-want-to-survive-nuclear-war/300574/2 "2005-04-22T10:30:09Z")
Well, as I argued in that thread, the Southern hemisphere would be far less affected: with a few precautions it seems to me that life would go on there with only a small rise in cancer and birth defect rates. Those Northern survivors who headed south would, I’d suggest, merely be starting a new life in a similar way to many of our own grandparents, especially those displaced by WW2. Indeed, places like sub-Saharan Africa might suddenly find itself developing useful infrastructure much faster than decades of IMF diktats ever produced, now that northerners now had to _live_ there rather than merely empathise with TV pictures. ---
**Author:** ![Buran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Buran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buran)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-we-want-to-survive-nuclear-war/300574/3 "2005-04-23T01:59:37Z")
Personally I’d take my chances, people declaring that they’d walk to the center of the explosion to die quickly always seemed rather defeatist and cowardly to me. ---
**Author:** ![ricksummon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ricksummon/32/3333_2.png) [@ricksummon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricksummon)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-we-want-to-survive-nuclear-war/300574/4 "2005-04-23T02:07:58Z")
> [@Dr. Stephen Falken](#): > > Oh, don’t worry; I’ve planned ahead. We’re just three miles from a primary target. A millisecond of brilliant light and we’re vaporized. Much more fortunate than the millions wandering sightless through the smoldering aftermath. We’ll be spared the horror of **survival.** Of course, the same guy also used his kid’s name as a password, so what does **he** know? 😃 ---
**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:** [April 23, 2005, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-we-want-to-survive-nuclear-war/300574/5 "2005-04-23T02:14:31Z")
Survival has always been my plan. I have supplies on hand, living in an earthquake area as I do, and the idea of roaming a post-apocalyptic world, fighting the mutants for food sounds like fun! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TheSquirrelfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a6a055/32.png) [@TheSquirrelfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheSquirrelfish)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-we-want-to-survive-nuclear-war/300574/6 "2005-04-23T02:50:04Z")
Survive. Hey, no debt, no responsibilities and I’m in my early 20’s with outdoorsy ranching/gardening experience. It seems like I’d almost be better off… depending how far I was from the initial explosions. I would probably have a more painful, shorter life but I could be more useful, fulfilled and happier I think. Who is to say the coming years will even be equal to the last few in quality of life? ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-we-want-to-survive-nuclear-war/300574/7 "2005-04-23T02:52:37Z")
Meh…beats working in an office. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-we-want-to-survive-nuclear-war/300574/8 "2005-04-23T03:35:14Z")
As I said in the other thread, my life after nuclear war could be pretty sweet. I’m one of the few folks who know how to churn butter, make soap and weave cloth. I’d be a wealthy, well-valued member of the community. Other than that, I wouldn’t want to die simply because I want to see what would happen next. For a lay sociologist, watching the collapse of a civilization would be fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-we-want-to-survive-nuclear-war/300574/9 "2005-04-23T04:50:47Z")
I’m glad to see so many folks would make a nice, tangy punch out of those dystopian lemons! I’m sorta big on the Mad Max carmageddon scenerio, meself. Give me a Mustang, a tank of NOX, and some gnarly leather duds, and I’m sure I could make the best of it. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2005, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-we-want-to-survive-nuclear-war/300574/10 "2005-04-23T15:11:07Z")
Well, it would sure clean out the riff-raff in the neighborhood. And parking wouldn’t be a problem, either. I’ll take my chances.