Self sufficient?

[Bubba's Dad]

My new blacksmiths anvil finally arrived the other day and I now need to finish getting my forge set up, but it got me thinking. With all of the big box stores (of which I am a loyal customer) and high tech gadgets and fast food places, I wonder if we are loosing skills that may be useful in the event we find ourselves in a situation were our modern conveniences are unavailable. Now I can do basic guns smithing, some backyard forging and I now how to skin and cook animals. If pushed I can even tan hides and find drinkable water in the “wild”. Now combined with basic first aid training and the knowledge of a few tricks to find an east-west line, or The north star, I feel pretty comfortable in the opinion that I probably would not die if dropped into the wild somewhere. A least not right away. But some of the skills that I learned as a kid, such as using a shadow to find an east-west direction, or how to make a fire with out matches, these skills are foreign even to my own kids. So my question is, are we as a modern people becoming soft? Do people still bother to learn how to set up a solar still for fresh water, or learn how to give basic first aid? Or have these skills been replaces with cell phones and “the network“? And, have we become so modernized that these skills really are, more or less useless?

[Raivynn]

If I was dumped in the wilderness, I'd probably die eventually. I'm not trained in any sort of thing that could possibly help me. Never enjoyed camping or the things that go hand in hand with it.

Though in saying that I've always lived in the heart of the city. Never lived near anywhere that could be classified as wilderness.

[ladytera]

I think that human beings, for the most part, are extremely adaptable critters. While many these days would find it difficult going if suddenly all the modern conveniences that we've come to consider necessities stopped working. Or if they somehow became stranded in the wilderness. I don't necessarily believe it would lead to their deaths. Keeping one individual alive in the wilderness is not as difficult a task as one might presume, even with minimal training. You might get sick as a dog from eating the wrong stuff or drinking bad water, but the survival instinct is pretty strong in most folks, and they'd probably adapt pretty well once they got over the initial panic and shock. Most folks, when pressed, could figure out how to make a fire, how to construct basic shelter, even how to hunt and skin for meat and clothing.

I find the mindset of "modern" people more disturbing in this area than their abilities. People go into a panic when the power goes out after a natural disaster, or when the roads are closed, or the water gets shut off. Truth is, I can cook without a stove, I can find water without my internal plumbing, and my feet will work for most things if I can't drive. I know this, so none of those things have ever particularly bugged me on a personal level, but pop culture tends to promote the idea that we're doomed without our modernity. That we would all revert to savages killing each other and it would be survival of the fittest if there were suddenly some world wide calamity, or we look on in wonder at the wild man who gets dropped on a mountain top for our entertainment and performs strange feats of unknown survival skills to get back to civilization. I figure our society probably wouldn't look much like it does now if we were to lose all the technological advances of the last 100 years or so, but society existed long before electricity, cars, computers and microwaves, I don't think the loss would bring it to a stop.

As to not teaching those things, I think it probably depends where you live. In America, a lot of those skills are considered a basic part of our heritage, so they are promoted through groups like the Boy Scouts, re-enacting groups, living history groups, etc. I think too if you live in the more rural areas of the country, those skills are just a part of what you learn growing up. On the other hand, in more densely populated countries, where the fronteirsman and the cowboy are not a part of the fabric of their traditions and stories, there might not be so much emphasis on those kinds of skills. And for those living in cities, no matter where in the world, I think the very idea of purposely going without the technology is probably not something that comes into the typical mindset. After all, there are plenty of survival skills associated with the urban jungle, why add the wilderness to the mix.

I doubt the skills will ever become extinct or obsolete though. If you look at the legends and histories of all places, you will always find stories of men and women pitting their skill, wits and determination against nature and being transformed by their triumphs. While I may not agree with all of the environmentalists points of view, the idea that there is something deep within the human psyche that is drawn to nature is one I totally agree with.

[chiefgibson]

^I agree^


The Human race has a tendency to never die off. Like the turd that just wont flush. I have to say that anything short of the entire planet exploding is not enough to do us in. We as a group will adapt, and survive. As for specific trades dieing, well there's always someone attempting to keep them alive, be it because someone needs to eat sleep and have shelter, or just because he/she is looking for a hobby.