this post was submitted on 14 Oct 2023
150 points (97.5% liked)

Ask Lemmy

26968 readers
1169 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Please don't post about US Politics. If you need to do this, try [email protected]


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either [email protected] or [email protected]. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email [email protected]. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

I was having this conversation with my daughter and thought it was an interesting topic.

If an EMP or solar flare took out everything electronic in the whole world (permanently), how long do you think it would take for you to die, given your current location and circumstances.

I believe my daughter thinks we would live a lot longer than I do, but she is thinking about how long she can live without the internet while I am thinking the world will quickly descend into anarchy.

With no traditional forms of transport, so supplies would dry up, limited resources, health etc, law and order would be a challenge as things become more desperate.

I think I would live for about 3 months. I would try to get the family somewhere safe and remote and come back later, but I think most people would have the same idea.

(page 2) 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

There was a TV series based on that idea; it got weird after a while but does point out some of the complexities of living without power. The show is called Revolution and came out in 2012.

Personally though, I doubt a majority of people would be able to survive long due to complications of getting fresh water, food, not to mention medical care, etc.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

I would definitely die sooner than a lot of people because of my mechanical heart valve. The blood thinners and needing to make sure my blood isn't too thin or thick would be harder since I've been getting it checked for over a decade and I've never seen them use a non-electric method of testing.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If we can create fire we'd still have steam energy.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I feel like this is the kind of thing everyone overlooks in these kinds of scenarios. Thousands of people are going to be working on the problem. Okay, all our current electronics are fried, but that doesn't mean we can't make new ones. All our power plants and water treatment facilities suddenly don't work... Well, people still have jobs at those places so someone is going to try to fix it. And I think most people sort of know and understand that, at least over the short term. Society doesn't fall apart after every disaster.

And if it did, you're probably wrong about how you'd respond or you're not being creative and therefore are doing what everyone else will do and the resources will dry up and you won't be one of the lucky few that makes it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Well these questions are mostly for people to LARP about how tough and self-sufficient they are. No, society wouldn't collapse because we didn't have electricity for 99% of our time on Earth. Electricity was a luxury as recently as 100 years ago.

Number one issue is, can electronics be fixed? If yes, temporary issue. If not, and we are literally without power (for some magical reason) we just need a million more horses to cart food around. There wouldn't be much looting. The new iPhone won't work and how are you going to get away with anything bigger? Guns and locks still work without electricity.

I personally would start buying up property from people ignorantly fleeing cities. Most major cities are built on great harbors or waterways for sail and steam ships. People will try to farm, fail at it, and just buy from farmers like before. Food will move by boat first to major ports. Every prepper in the middle of nowhere will sit in a bunker eating canned vegetables while the rest of the world goes on with their lives.

You don't actually need Facebook and Tik Tok. You won't die without it. You'll just read the same gossip in a magazine.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

I wouldn't be able to use more of my medication, so if I keep taking NSAIDS every day, then until I have kidney/liver failure. I don't know how long would that be.

That's of course not accounting for someone trying to murder me to get the NSAIDS they couldn't get, or someone else trying to murder me for my belongings/food. Since I have arthritis I can't really defend myself so... Yeah.

I did talk to my wife about this on one of those drunken conversations and we both agreed to just end it when we see no other way because we both need medication to live.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Depends how prepared you are and how you play the cards you have. Taking care of family/others will definitely slow you down. Gas won't last and when you start seeing people roaming around, better be somewhere safe!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I swear American fantasies about societal collapse are so frustrating. Everybody assumes people would turn to violence and greed immediately. Either it's because it looks good in movies or they genuinely think they suck.

Meanwhile in real extreme conditions everybody is all "let's get all the famillies together to help each other gather our crops" and "I have too many lemons from my lemon tree, do you want some for free?" "Oh, only if you take some of this fish I got that may go bad instead".

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I know a few assholes. And if they're assholes in times of plenty, I have no reason to think they'll grow a moral compass when the lights go out.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I'm not too concerned. Worst case, my brother is a competition shooter and has a number of guns and the components for lots of ammo at home (he makes his own custom tailored ammo), while gun ownership is otherwise quite unusual in my country.

I suppose a major issue would be realizing early enough if things are not going to improve, and that it's time to bug out to his place and switch to Fallout mode.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

This was the storyline for the old Jessica Alba show, a Dark Angel.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I would live maybe even longer than in the current world. So much more action would help my physical condition.

I have grown up with low tech, so I know how to get along. It is just a lot less convenient.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Got a plan for food, long-term?

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Would probably depend on how strongly my survive instinct would kick in, and what I'd be willing to do to survive. And of course on how we as a society would deal with this big change.

A few minutes would be the minimum.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Wait, I've seen this TV show before.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It was a movie. The end of Escape from LA.

load more comments
view more: ‹ prev next ›