# You are the only one alive on earth. What do you do? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 20, 2014, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-alive-on-earth-what-do-you-do/688840 "2014-05-20T16:48:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-alive-on-earth-what-do-you-do/688840/81 "2014-05-22T11:14:10Z")
I’d finally get a decent fucking night’s sleep for once. /parent ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-alive-on-earth-what-do-you-do/688840/82 "2014-05-22T13:23:59Z")
I forgot all about the bed I wake up in. :smack: There is metal for tools and weapons, material for hats, ponchos and enough left over to patch clothes, and casters to make a cart with. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-alive-on-earth-what-do-you-do/688840/83 "2014-05-22T14:21:15Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > See OP. Nothing man made left. > > No glasses? No chance for me. Oops. I was getting so excited about never having to diet again. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-alive-on-earth-what-do-you-do/688840/84 "2014-05-23T15:02:36Z")
Travel and explore the world. Carefully. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-alive-on-earth-what-do-you-do/688840/85 "2014-05-23T15:48:54Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > Travel and explore the world. Carefully. Terrible idea. There’s a reason why pre-industrial people rarely travelled around. Getting food and water is harder than you think, and every time you leave a spot with said resources, you are making a bet that you will find another before you run out of energy. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-alive-on-earth-what-do-you-do/688840/86 "2014-05-23T17:05:32Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > People always start frantically searching for food. That is the last thing on your list, literally. The first thing is to make sure you will have shelter from the sun and/or heat and/or cold and/or damp. Yes, some places are temperate paradises during some parts of the year where you can walk around naked day and night. Most places on Earth aren’t. A few hours walking around in the rain can give you hypothermia. A few hours walking around in the sun can give you heatstroke. A night spent cold and wet can kill you. > > So the most important thing to do is construct some shelter to protect you from the elements, whatever your location is. You need something to keep the rain off, shade from the sun, protection from the wind, elevation off the ground to prevent the ground from conducting your heat away in the night. > > A bit of scouting around to look for water–hint, head downhill–might be in order if the climate isn’t too miserable. But you cannot underestimate how dangerous heat stroke or hypothermia can be, if it’s really hot or cold or wet you have to protect yourself first. > > Then worry about water. If you can’t make a fire to boil the water, expect to eventually get damn sick from drinking contaminated water. If you’re by yourself, diarrhea can dehydrate you quickly, and if you try to replace fluids with contaminated water you just make things worse. Get dehydrated with no one to help you and you quickly become to weak to move, and you’re dead. > > Only after you have shelter and clean water should you worry about food. Yes, you’ll be hungry and low energy and groggy and weak with no food after a day or two. But you won’t die from just a few hours without food, like you can from hyper/hypothermia, or a few days without water. Several problems with this, in addition to not having a pot to boil water. Ever started a fire from nothing? Most likely without any flint, unless you happen to be extremely lucky. The bigger problem is not having that handy knife. It’s possible to make a bow for starting fires from your bed sheet, and to make stone tools, but unless some is really into survival stuff, they will not have a clue how to do this. Until I started responding to this, I had never actually seen it done, only read in a book. There are videos on youtube showing people doing it, while pointing out how difficult it is. Shelter for the first few days actually isn’t going to be that difficult. You already have good clothes to protect you from the elements and you have your bed, so you really only need to watch out for rain or snow. It’s also possible to boil water without a pot, by heating rocks in a fire and then putting them into some water. Note that you have to make something to hold the water and other tools as well, all without knives or other modern tools. Unless you get really lucky and this happens during a time where there is a lot of fruit, finding enough food is going to be highly problematic. This may be possible for an experienced survivalist, but most of us just don’t have the necessary skill sets to do what you suggest. ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-alive-on-earth-what-do-you-do/688840/87 "2014-05-23T17:28:15Z")
You’d be surprised at how long a hole in the ground will retain water if it’s clay-ey. Tamped well it’ll hold even longer. Large tree leaves work surprisingly well as containers, as do logs with the center rotting out, gourds, even animal skulls if holes are patched with clay or leaf. A folded bedsheet would probably carry water for a ways, if you found something to store/cook in. Many riverbanks have rocks with depressions in them - ready made vessel and not far to lug water. Also animals come TO water, easier to hunt. If it’s a big enough river there will be fish too. Insects are gross but plentiful and pretty high in protein. The trick will be surviving the elements long enough to get familiar with your surroundings and to figure out how to make use of what’s available to the best advantage. ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-alive-on-earth-what-do-you-do/688840/88 "2014-05-23T17:40:42Z")
I’d love to try this, just for the hell of it! Making fire w/ a stick: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/l8C8qPoMZdo/maxresdefault.jpg "How To Make a Fire By Rubbing Sticks") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8C8qPoMZdo) Of course, I’m not on an island so I’d have to find other tinder sources, but I’d love to see if I could do it 🙂 This was cool too - starting fire with water: [5 Ways to Start a Fire, Using Water - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCyHC7lnMyQ) ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-alive-on-earth-what-do-you-do/688840/89 "2014-05-23T18:04:20Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > [Yes!!!](http://www.pendemonium.com/images/inkwells/corning_glasstree.gif) That looks like Cthulhu’s dildo… \>\_\> ---
**Author:** ![themuna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@themuna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themuna)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-alive-on-earth-what-do-you-do/688840/90 "2014-05-23T18:39:00Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Sleep in. Great answer right there. I’d probably start looking around at all the places where people lived. If there is nothing man-made left, the only thing there would be plants, especially drugs. So I’d just be high and tripped out on weed and shrooms through the last of my days. I don’t do drugs now but if the world is ending, why not? ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-alive-on-earth-what-do-you-do/688840/91 "2014-05-23T19:21:16Z")
> [@Sr\_Siete](#): > > Terrible idea. There’s a reason why pre-industrial people rarely travelled around. Getting food and water is harder than you think, and every time you leave a spot with said resources, you are making a bet that you will find another before you run out of energy. In the long run, yes it is certainly a bad idea. But scavenging modern society with their supermarkets and warehouses will be a great source of food and water for months if not years. I want to get my traveling done before it is too difficult. And while I’m traveling I will probably find a favorite place to settle down and sustain myself. Besides, how could I ever be certain I was the last human alive if I didn’t look around? ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-alive-on-earth-what-do-you-do/688840/92 "2014-05-23T19:30:45Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > In the long run, yes it is certainly a bad idea. But scavenging modern society with their supermarkets and warehouses will be a great source of food and water for months if not years. I want to get my traveling done before it is too difficult. And while I’m traveling I will probably find a favorite place to settle down and sustain myself. > > Besides, how could I ever be certain I was the last human alive if I didn’t look around? Oh, I understand. No, the OP states that everything man - made disappears. If only people disappeared then sure, you can go anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-alive-on-earth-what-do-you-do/688840/93 "2014-05-23T19:35:08Z")
It’d be fun for awhile if only humans disappeared. Exploring abandoned cities alone with my pack of dogs is a fun day dream. Not this thread though. ---
**Author:** ![TheSeaOtter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ed655f/32.png) [@TheSeaOtter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheSeaOtter)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-alive-on-earth-what-do-you-do/688840/94 "2014-05-23T20:04:26Z")
Well, let’s see. Something or someone has either moved me to an uninhabited planet, or miraculously un-made all of civilization, except me, and my bed. In either case, they went to the trouble of giving me a specific set of clothes, so they’re at least aware of the issue of my survival, and presumably interesting in seeing what I do. So I’d start trying to convince whoever or whatever is responsible to put everything back the way they found it. How? Just talk out loud to the air. An entity that can bring about this situation is likely able to understand me, and it seems unlikely that they set all this up and then stopped paying attention to me. I know just enough about wilderness survival to know that I’m not going to be around that long, so my best bet is that the same capricious deity/alien researcher/whatever that put me in this situation can be convinced to put me back. It might not work, and then I’ll die after looking crazy for a while, but it’s not like there’s anyone else around to see. ---
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-alive-on-earth-what-do-you-do/688840/95 "2014-05-23T20:52:50Z")
The first thing to do is find some good clay. I would kneed it and put a strip between two straight sticks or a split piece of wood. Then I’d scrap along the top so I end up with a flat tablet about 1 inch wide and 18 inches long. Now, using a large feather to mark the clay, I can resume texting and probably say things like: “Wolves are NOT mans best friend” “Animals are touchy about getting milked. I miss cows : (” “I never got bit by a fish B4!!!” Next I take a piece of metal from the bed and sharpen it into a knife. I search about for a tree that fell a few years prior. I use the knife to strip the bark and if the wood looks like it’s in good condition I can begin carving a wood wife. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2014, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-alive-on-earth-what-do-you-do/688840/96 "2014-05-23T22:31:45Z")
Since I live in the Bay Area, climate is not much of a problem, though I might migrate south. I happen to know that there are cows in the barn where my daughter used to ride, so I can maybe construct a spear and go and hunt me a cow. I’ve done a fire with flint and steel, but there won’t be any steel. I’ve seen one made with wood. I wonder if non-heirloom tomatoes count as man made. There are tons of farms not all that far away. If this happened when people were setting up a farmers’ market, maybe the vegetables would stay while the tables vanished. I also know where there are relatively tame horses. Riding one without a saddle and reins made of vines would be interesting, but it would give me more range. I guess their food is not manmade so that won’t be a problem, and they’d have grass during the rainy season. If I had fallen asleep with my Swiss Army knife in my pocket life would be much easier. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2014, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-alive-on-earth-what-do-you-do/688840/97 "2014-05-24T14:46:44Z")
> [@saje](#): > > The trick will be surviving the elements long enough to get familiar with your surroundings and to figure out how to make use of what’s available to the best advantage. That didn’t help [Christopher McCandless](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_McCandless), the guy who died up in Alaska. > [@](#): > > After hiking along the snow-covered Stampede Trail, McCandless found an abandoned bus (about 40 miles (64 km) west of Healy) used as a hunting shelter and parked on an overgrown section of the trail near Denali National Park, and began to live off the land. He had 10 pounds (4.5 kg) of rice, a Remington semi-automatic rifle with 400 rounds of .22LR hollowpoint ammunition, several books including one on local plant life, and some camping equipment. He assumed he could forage for plant food and hunt game. For the next thirty days or so, McCandless poached porcupines, squirrels, and birds, such as ptarmigans and Canada geese. On June 9, 1992, he managed to kill a moose; however, he failed to preserve the meat properly, and within days it spoiled and was covered with maggots. I suspect that very few people would actually be able to survive this scenario. ---
**Author:** ![claramorena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/2acd7d/32.png) [@claramorena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/claramorena)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-alive-on-earth-what-do-you-do/688840/98 "2014-05-25T01:15:26Z")
Find all the food and the largest freezer. Spend all day reading and eating. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-alive-on-earth-what-do-you-do/688840/99 "2014-05-25T01:21:51Z")
This thread is like a litmus test to see who does and who doesn’t read the OP. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-alive-on-earth-what-do-you-do/688840/100 "2014-05-25T01:28:55Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > This thread is like a litmus test to see who does and who doesn’t read the OP. Or the thread at all. Not even skimming. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-alive-on-earth-what-do-you-do/688840.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-the-only-one-alive-on-earth-what-do-you-do/688840.md?page=6)