101 Questions for Survival?

[willseeker]

I don't know who originally made this statement, but it goes

Something like this:

"Great leadership begins with hiring people who are consistently

Smarter than you are."


isher

IPSO FACTO PEPTO BISMOL...the reason for the questionaire...to bring together the best!...and most compatible.

 

[Silver Fox]

How many questions do you have so far?

The musical instrument question is a good one. 1. Throws people off guard and 2. If they do, well some acustic guitar just might be what the Dr. ordered when people are feeling a little 'blah'. It is amazing what music does for the soul and how it brings people together.

My early morning ramblings.

SF-

 

[willseeker]

How many questions do you have so far?

The musical instrument question is a good one. 1. Throws people off guard and 2. If they do, well some acustic guitar just might be what the Dr. ordered when people are feeling a little 'blah'. It is amazing what music does for the soul and how it brings people together.

My early morning ramblings.

SF-

Well, now that the Christmas goose has been cooked (no pun intended!), I'll start typing them up.

I should have a preliminary list posted today. How many? I'd guess we're pushing 100!

Anybody got a good one?

Will

 

[Silver Fox]

About to step into my Kettlebell class, how about, can you sew? That applies to both men and women.

SF-

 

[willseeker]

About to step into my Kettlebell class, how about, can you sew? That applies to both men and women.

SF-

Yes of course! Sewing! Thread, line, hooks, clothing, sutures, knots...





Will

 

[isher]

I'll play............

Can you spin, weave, and knit?

What wild fibers are best suited for spinning?

Can you brain tan a hide?

Do you own a bowdrill for making fire?

What is a figure four trap?

What are your top 100 favorite books?


etc., etc., etc..

isher

 

[shibbershabber]

What are your top 100 favorite books?

I cant imagine that many people have actually read 100 books, let alone enough to make a top 100 list!

 

[isher]

Hmmm........

Books multiply worse than rats.

Last time we moved, 120 boxes of them.

The real bear is providing bookcases for the brood.

I just put three bookcases into the cordwood/wood furnace room

For the overflow.


isher

 

[shibbershabber]

Hmmm........

Books multiply worse than rats.

Last time we moved, 120 boxes of them.

The real bear is providing bookcases for the brood.

I just put three bookcases into the cordwood/wood furnace room

For the overflow.


isher

I hear ya, 99% I am to be found with a book in my hands. I just dont think that many people read, well people my age I guess I should say.



also,
I dont recall if this was brought up yet, but you should find out someone's political ideology when considering adding them to the group. Might be kind of tough to recreate society when 1/2 the group has differeing ideas of what society should be like.

 

[willseeker]

I hear ya, 99% I am to be found with a book in my hands. I just dont think that many people read, well people my age I guess I should say.



also,
I dont recall if this was brought up yet, but you should find out someone's political ideology when considering adding them to the group. Might be kind of tough to recreate society when 1/2 the group has differeing ideas of what society should be like.

You mean you've done all those trade ratings in 1% of your time? How do you eat man!

I'm glad you made a comment that many people 'your age' might not read as much! Now, I've got a couple of years on you but I don't know if my gen. necessarily reads anymore either. Seems that a lot of guys are watching Joe Namath getting his beard shaved off by Farah Fawcett at half time!! Hooo! Sorry, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!

Anyway, I'm a bit late on typing the 101?s'...later

Will

 

[I-Shoot]

I've been thinking about this off and on for a few years now. As others have said, it all depends on what you are preparing for -- and since we don't know, Adaptability is as important as preparedness. So some questions would have to address a persons attachment to perceived needs, especially things that in essence are "modern luxuries".

I am starting to clarify what I think the future will bring, and so I'm narrowing the range of what I will attempt to prepare for. I won't become rigid - flexibility is essential - I just have my own assessment of "most likely scenarios". My questions would include some that uncover what they think the future will bring -- and what is their attitude about how they see themselves functioning in their perceived future.

Personally, my first assumption is that our world is going to change dramatically -- the unknowns are how fast or slow, and how people will react. The second assumption is that these changes are permanent, and while not linear, there is no 'going back'. I truly believe that in the long run - regardless of how bumpy the road - some of the paradigm shifts could be for the better. For instance, by decentralizing everything from political power to agriculture, we can reinstate diversity, redundancy, and modularity - which are the three requirements for species resilience.

Since I see large scale irrevocable change, I am looking for long term solutions. My questions for people I might live with would focus on farming skills, building and repair, medical training, etc. Aside from their religious beliefs (religion being its own topic), the more Amish-like your skill-sets are, the better you look to me. Positive attitudes, resourcefulness, flexibility, open-mindedness -- key elements. In my world, if the SHTF and you have not already tilled and planted and/or canned and stored, your SOL. So I'm looking for a life-change now that will take me through what I see as the next large social shift. And if nothing changes, I'm OK with that, because I'll be moving to a life I would be happy to live either way. That's important.

For me, religion and philosophy are crucial, and so far the biggest impediment I've found to securing a group. I'm starting to think that the less specific their belief system the more likely we'll get along. To oversimplify, there are a few groups I'm finding. One wants to survive without violence, so they don't own guns. I respect their integrity to their own beliefs, and wish them the best. Another wants to hoard food/water guns/ammo, and they think they'll take what ever they need beyond that. I loath the (post-Apocalyptic) day I cross their paths. And then there are those who are preparing, have a moral center, and are willing to defend themselves, and so far most of the ones I've met have been religious Christians (which is fine, but I am not, and it creates a social barrier... but let's not get too far off topic).

Finding a group that one could basically see as suitable to be stranded on the proverbial dessert island with, is no small task.

And since we're recommending books, I *highly* recommend this new one; Dianne Dumanoski's The End of the Long Summer. Even if you think climate change is a bunch of bunk, the book takes an amazing look at our current economic, social, and political vulnerability, and how easily small shifts can disrupt the whole system that we rely on.

 

[isher]

I-Shoot

To date have never figured out

If I'm a redneck hippie

Or a hippie redneck.............

Been called both many times, depending on which

Bank of the river you were standing on.

Go figure!


isher

 

[I-Shoot]

yeah, I've often thought I need a T-shirt that's half tie-dye and half camo.

Some day I hope to find my tribe. I imagine they will be a group of people who don't think they have all the answers, and are comfortable with not having to know ultimate truths. When you take god out of the equation, its much easier for people to get along (unless of course they all have the very same god).

Shame it works that way -- but relevant to this topic because its such a basic core belief, that it can make or break a community. So to stay on topic, some of those questions would have to address not only the persons religious/spiritual beliefs, but how they view others beliefs. What role does religion play in their thought process and decision making. Do they value the lives of people of their religion more than the lives of people of other religions (important if your group is mixed, you have to know who's watching your back and does your back matter to them as much as the next person's).

But that's just one aspect of communal living, so I don't mean to blow it out of proportion.

Oddly, it reminds me of when I was in the corporate world, and my boss would say things like "this company would run just fine, if I could do it without people". People are the problem, and the only solution.

 

[Gunner3456]

I'll play............

-snip-

What are your top 100 favorite books?


etc., etc., etc..

isher

I cant imagine that many people have actually read 100 books, let alone enough to make a top 100 list!

I have ALL of the 105 books written by Louis L'Amour. Most I bought years ago in second hand book stores. It took the internet for me to be sure I had them all even though a (continuously outdated list) was printed in each book as they were published and reprinted.

I have read each of them at least twice. I'm about due to read them again since it's been more than ten years since I read one.

He was quite the historian, and the way he describes people living is accurate even though the tales are fiction. If he says a certain plant was used for a certain purpose in a story, it was in real life. If he says a certain method was used for something, it was. These are Westerns written about the times in the old west.

I can't say that those are my favorite books, just that I've read more than 100 books.

 

[willseeker]

I'm working on the list right now but getting sore fingers! Yeah, I know, poor baby!

I'd like to get what I have posted tonight as an attachment to the OP.

BTW: Ishoot...you're in.
Great comments.







Will

 

[isher]

OK gang -

This is part of the way of how the

Rubber really hits the road.

http://www.folkstreams.net/film,188

enjoy

isher

 

[willseeker]

Isher, just finished watching your link to 'Pirogue' making!

I've been using broadaxes, block planes, adses, slicks, draw knifes and wood mallets for years, timberframing houses.

Amazing the uses for a simple framing square, isn't it?

Always remember, never forget, when working with wood...
"wood will never lie to you...it won't lie for you either!"
"The Arc" I'm currently building incorporates a lot of wood work!

Will

 

[isher]

Will -

The big oceangoing cedar canoes built by the Coast Salish

Up here were almost identical in construction methodology.

Biggest difference is they would fill em up with water

And pile in redhot rocks until the water boiled,

And stretch 'em

To get that instantly recognizable hull flare and sheer.


isher

 

[Gunner3456]

FWIW, I'm totally against putting together an unrelated group for communal living except for long time, trusted close friends. All of my close relatives live nearby, and we will have them here. We have LEO's and ex military Iraq vets, an RN (my wife) hunters, woodsmen, cooks, gardeners. We have supplies and wilderness nearby. We have arms. We have water. We have land.

We've done all we can. Next stop: Meet my Maker with gladness. Some things I can't control. I won't live forever in this life anyway.

No one has to agree with me on "religion." We'll get along just fine and I'm not going to bug anyone about it. It's a personal thing.

$.02

 

[I-Shoot]

(edited by I-Shoot)

1. All of my close relatives live nearby, and we will have them here.

2. We have LEO's and ex military Iraq vets, an RN (my wife) hunters, woodsmen, cooks, gardeners. We have supplies and wilderness nearby. We have arms. We have water. We have land.

3. No one has to agree with me on "religion." We'll get along just fine and I'm not going to bug anyone about it. It's a personal thing.

You have three key elements to success: (1) An overriding cause and commonality - you are all family, and that supersedes all other differences. (2) You have a variety of skills, life experiences, genders, and age groups - very important. MOST important, is that you have land! And (3), you have tolerance, and you accept that cosmological beliefs are a personal choice and not part of the group dynamic.

I envy you, that's an awesome and rare combination of necessary elements.