If you were the last thousand of people on earth and you had to make a desicion between saving the knowledge of

Question: If you were the last thousand of people on earth and you had to make a desicion between saving the knowledge of mankind, setting up a new goverment or finding food and shelter which one would you chosse
- Keywords:
  end of the world,
  extinct,
  future,
  philosophy,
  society
Asked by desmond to Alison, Artem, Caroline, John, Gunther on 11 Jun 2012.
- Artem Evdokimov answered on 11 Jun 2012:
  
  This is called ‘triage’ 🙂 In a difficult situation when something terrible happens and one has to respond quickly, we have to choose what to do and in what order. So in a situation like this we have to make sure that we survive the next few days, so food and shelter first – otherwise there’s no point saving knowledge since we’d all die out of hunger. Once food and shelter are secured, it would be prudent to save as much knowledge as possible.
- John Short answered on 14 Jun 2012:
  
  I agree with Artem. If we tried to save all the knowledge, or caught up in politics, it is likely that people would die. Food, shelter and warmth through fire or other heating is critical for humans to survive, especially in winter. Furthermore, without good food, or appropriate living places, disease can be become rampant, e.g. due to bad water, or sanitation such as with Cholera which causes diarrhoea.
  
  Knowledge can be rediscovered, and we will always fight over politics, but those things can be done when you have a strong foundation of security and safety.

Question: If you were the last thousand of people on earth and you had to make a desicion between saving the knowledge of mankind, setting up a new goverment or finding food and shelter which one would you chosse