DIY challenge! A timeslip sends your school/ office building/ apartment block 500K years into the past.?

Question

How do you… work together to survive …feel about those who are there with you/ not there with you …go about reestablishing/ preserving agriculture, technology, medicine, literacy, law, etc. What is most important/ urgent? What do you do?

This is the ultimate challenge for do-it-yourselfers!

Answer 1

Cool Question. This is a lot of infrastructure to have "slip" in to the past. Unlike the chicks I would not try to set up a ecologist dream by preserving nature and I would not try to establish the worlds first communist country. Since the whole earth would be nature anyway I am sure any damage we would do would be minimal, and with such few people a governing structure would have to be put in place otherwise, anarchy + human nature = everyone dies.

1. People are the most important resource. I would factor that about 40% all the population would die or leave the first week. Sinful human nature would lead to hording, fighting, and killing. With out the population their would be no farmers, no teacher, and no leaders. Some sort of body would have to "come together" to stop the initial blood shed, most likely this body would evolve in to the ruling body. Also, without a hospital, over sickness would end up claiming many lives.

2. Food and Water. Food would have to be found after a couple months, most likely all the food in the city would be depleted. The governing body would assign people to go to the college library and learn about agriculture, so they can farm. Also, seeds and local plant life would have to be used. Survey teams would be sent out to scout for food and water. After a couple years farms could be run successfully to accommodate all the people.

3. Benefits of buildings. The building would provide shelterer and resources for a long time. All the wiring for power, water and sewage is in place. Office buildings could be used as shelter or farmed for raw materials to make generators (copper, metal, magnets, ect) and rivers or wood fires could provide the power to turn the generators. The college/teachers means that the infrastructure for education already exists. Walls for protection would still have to be built, and land for farms would still have to be cleared.

4. Moral. This would be the hardest part of the new sociality. People in America are so spoiled. Some people are serious when they say, "I would die without my cell phone, computer, PS3, TV." People life styles would change in a matter of minutes and many of them would no be able to adjust. To ease them in to reality, some form of "theater" would have to be established, along with other arts. I would imagine that religion would still be a part of the new culture, since a belief in God transcends time, though I would not let the church take or receive any money and leading the church could not be your only profession.

5. Laws. Their would be a couple of laws enforced by the government. 1#Eye for an Eye- it still works. 2# You don't work, you don't eat- no welfare here. 3# If you decide to leave the city, you cannot take anything with you- this stops desertion.

Answer 2

Pool your current resources, find out who knows how to do what, and establish some kind of ordered society that works in the best interest of the group. Authority should be by council, rather than autocratic. Determine what is available locally, set up a warning system to alert for dangerous local life. Begin to find edible foods from the local environment, find safe water to drink, and a means to dispose of waste. It won't be easy, but if all work together, then a decent way of life should be possible. The council should make "laws" to prevent hoarding, especially since the trinkets of now would be meaningless then, except for sentimental value. The shock of the change would be a major factor to overcome. Mental health of all would be an important item to keep track of. The last thing you would want is anyone trying to find a way "home".

Answer 3

put your differences aside in order to work together to survive. the most urgent would be preserve agriculture, live with nature and the environment(s) because you want to be able to obtain food. Medicine is possible to make from local plants. dedicate a certain time of the day for all the peoples to meet together in order to read stories and write them too. technology is least important. when people may be wrong, talk about the situation(s) in order to resolve issues.

Answer 4

I would try to establish a system where no one person or group has too much of the power. That is the most important thing to me because uneven power creates power and wealth for the few while every one else get used, abused and left out in the cold. To answer the rest of your question, I would have to write a whole book.

Answer 5

The first thing is to go find water and food