For the thrills?

Wouldn't that technically make you the new Mother Mary?

 

What's the thrill if no one can stop you?

 

If you used different sperm, incest wouldn't be as big of a problem as you might expect, especially if the women born use frozen sperm as well.

Even if the sperm was gone, the likelihood of genetic defects appearing between half siblings are pretty low. After that, you are going into half cousins and even more distant relations, which are less likely to cause defects.

Genetic defects due to incest really tends to appear after generations of cousins and closer reactions marrying, and even then its pretty rare. Most genetic defects would cause miscarriages, so the children actually born would more likely to be born healthy and without defects.

I'm not saying it wouldn't happen, but one woman and multiple men could repopulate the planet. It is, after all, probably similar to how humanity evolved.

 

The problem with frozen sperm is that by the time I understand I am totally alone and that maybe I should at least try to repopulate, the machines freezing the sperm may have already failed. As far as Google tells me, frozen sperm is stored nitrogen tanks and must be kept very cold to remain frozen. If I wait too long, would all the sperm have already died? If not, could I keep a bank alive for the next generation?

And that doesn’t touch upon the social aspects in that potential children will have sexual drives with no one around but each other. I can say frozen sperm is how you make children, but honestly, it’s likely they’ll experiment with each and get pregnant. Then what? Will half-educated children (I’m not a teacher) understand how bad that is? Maybe it’s possible to make the sperm only give females for five generations or so, but that seems dangerously reliant on the frozen sperm in one or two banks. What if we have to move away?

To be fair, I doubt any of that would be a problem because I’d never believe I was the only person. It would be too improbable. I'd just waste my days living in a library with cats in every corner.

 

Vira Well when you think about it the most probable ways for humanity to be destroyed. Is one a plague and if you survive a plague chances are that no matter how bad it is if you survive than chances are other people survive it as well.

The other is a nuclear winter created by a massive asteroid or a nuclear war which probably means that there will be no survivors at all.

In all honesty preparation for personal survival will probably take more time than the frozen sperm has.

Edit: For those who say that electricity is hard to come by. Generators are easy to find and filling them with fuel is even easier.

 

Peter North

What fuel? Gasoline degrades after a while.

 

Andrela Maybe in a few years that might be a problem, but natural gas is still going to be plentiful and that doesn't degrade. Also it's pretty easy to reconstitute gasoline. Think about it all the gas stations in a twenty - five mile radius near you that you would be able to empty. Plus stations with natural gas I really wouldn't be worried.

 

The knowledge that no one will ever stop you again?

 

In regards to what some people have said abotu electricity failing without anyone to maintain the power plants, there are a few houses that are completely self sufficient. I'm talking solar panels, wind turbis, water filtration system, all that jazz.

I myself would find one of these houses and make it my base meaning that electricity isn't going to be an issue.

Ironically, food and water isn't going to be an issue. What with every shop on the planet left unattented.

The main issue is keeping yourself sane and not dying of boredom.

Some people need human contact, some don't. To be honest, I'm not quite sure which of those two categories I fall into.

Movies, TV shows and games and books. Books are a bit iffy since the silence will become even more prominent and may lead to insanity or depression.

Let's do a schedule of your standard day by yourself:

08:00 - 08:30 : Shave, Brush your teeth, shower, get changed.

08:30 - 09:00 : Prepare yourself a breakfast. This would differ depending on the day but I would go with the standard bowl of cereal bit a glass of juice. Wash up at the end as having clutter can be a bit depressing to see for some people.

09:00 - 10:00 : Watch an episode of a TV show. This would be on DVD or Blu-Ray or even downloaded on your computer or laptop.

10:00 - 11:00 : Go for a morning run/jog, listen to music while doing so. Something up beat and happy.

11:00 - 12:00 : Your jog should end at a chosen field where you would ideally be growing crops. Tend these crops for the next hour.

12:00 - 13:00 : Go do some shopping. Grab some DVDs, games, books or food from the shops. Of course, you're not actually paying for it so I'm not sureif it can be called "Shopping". Again, listen to music while doing so so that you can block out the silence. Grab a quick snack that you can eat on the way back to your house.

13:00 - 13:30 : Go home and do a perimeter check just to make sure everything is still working. Remember, this is a self sustaining house so if anything breaks down then you're in deep shit.

13:30 - 14:00 : Take another shower to get rid of the smell of sweat. Get changed.

14:00 - 14:30 : Prepare yourself some food. This is only lunch, not dinner so I would say something like Spaghetti Bolognese or a Pasta. Wash up at the end.

14:30 - 17:00 : Play a game. Unfortunately, due to the issue of server maintenance, online games (Such as World of Warcraft, League of Legends, etc) will be inaccessible. So, you're relying on console games. Also, word of advice, try not to play a game again once you've completed it unless it's been a LONG time since you played it last.

17:00 - 19:00 : Study Time! Use this time to read some non-fiction books. These should be useful to your situation. Something to maintain your house, maybe something to help get gaming servers back online. Or you could try learning programming so you can make your own games. Or, as useless as it might be, you can try and learn a different language.

19:00 - 19:45 : Make yourself some dinner. This should be more filling than whatever you had at lunch. Wash up at the end.

19:45 - 21:45 : Watch a movie. You can grab some popcorn if you'd like. Like with games, try not watch a movie again unless it's been a LONG time since you last watched it.

21:45 - 00:00 : Read a fictional book. Like with games and movies, try not read a book again unless it's been a LONG time since you last read it.

00:00 - 08:00 : Go to sleep. Any less and it's not enough. Any more and it can lead to depression.

Rinse and repeat.

 

I get a shovel, and I start digging. I bury any artifacts I can of human existence, ideally in plastic lined tombs in desertish areas. Then I put as much rare metals or stones or whatever I can scroung (jewerly, computers, electrical cable, whatever), and use those as markers.
Maybe, hopefully, if another species finds this planet before the sun snuffs us, they'll wonder why the hell there are these strangely localized deposits, and dig up the records of our civilization.
Debating whether or not to put Ozymandius on top of each burial site, probably will.
As for me? Dead in a year, maybe 2 once i run out of food and usable fuel.

 

First step is head to Amazon warehouses near me, simply because they've got a lot of what I'm going to want - battery/power packs, bike dynamos, medical equipment, camping gear... And it's all going to be in one place. I might try camping shops too, but not certain.

Along the way, stop off at the local GP and vet clinics.

Also, I'd probably go the zoo, and break fences for some of the more placid creatures. Sure, letting flamingos loose probably has a bit of an impact on the local ecologies, but I'd hate for them to starve if they weren't a danger to me.

Leave signs everywhere that I'm still around, because it wouldn't make sense that I'd be the only one left. I'd probably try and set up a time capsule of some sort - dump a few encyclopedia, some kids books to learn English, a copy of the Voyager plaque, and a range of math equations. Hell, maybe make a few copies.

I think for the most part, I'd be okay, injury wise. I'm not prone to injury most of the time, and I live in the UK - the most dangerous animals are domestic dogs. The weather isn't too wild, and it isn't too inhospitable. Disease probably wouldn't be a problem, because I'm the only host left.

But... I'd still probably kill myself. There would come a point where it just isn't worth the effort to keep going - there's no rescue coming, I'm just going to slip into senility eventually anyway. I'd leave a journal, but it would just seem pointless.

 

Thus ends humanity

 

I will probably get started with gathering supplies. Then realize that I don't know how to jerry-rig anything, or get gasoline from the unpowered gas stations, and completely stumped by the locks and gates of all the warehouses.

And then, before I run out of power, I will log back on DLP and decry that reality sucks, and demand I get a new game.

 

Nice. Not enough Ozymandius out there.

 

I think I would start by visiting local animal shelters and releasing the animals. Sure, most pets in the world will die, but it doesn't mean I can't try to give a few a chance.

After that, I think I would start doing some research on survival. Once I had a basic list to start with, I would go and gather that stuff but just before leaving I would start downloading tons of stuff from the internet - books of all types (both nonfiction and fiction), games, music, video, and whatever else I think I might miss.

I would have to gather tons of desktop computers and associated equipment because I would be afraid of batteries eventually degrading to uselessness on portable computers. I should be able find solar power homes and chargers to take care of powering my computers once the power grid starts to fail.

One of my earliest tasks would be to locate propane powered vehicles since propane is supposed to have a long shelf life. After doing this, (and acquiring plenty of propane), and having gathered sufficient survival items and entertainment items, I would do quite a bit of traveling.

I'd travel to see the different sights and also to grab servers with information that I might like to have. I'd also hit up libraries and bookstores and grab reading material and various media. As I would travel to different places, I would establish bases and store stuff there for later visits.

My traveling would also serve to satisfy my security. What does my government keep hidden from me? A trip to the White House, among several other places, would be in order. This would also be another good reason for server gathering.

I think a lot of my life would be trying to avoid boredom, because that would starting leading to thinking how much it sucks that there are no other people left.

 

I'd give the Emperor's mercy to my pets and then I'd check out permanently with a combination of valium, whiskey, and .45 ACP. See you, space cowboy.

 

Because I'm assuming he's thinking of Steam. Grab all the games before the lights go out type of thing. When was the last time you saw a PC game on a shelf? Certainly none of the newer titles.

 

True I hadn't thought of that. Of course you'd be free to take any game system off the shelf and most of the games that go with it.

 

There's a really cool book out there called "The World Without Us" about what would happen in this case - all of humanity just up and disappearing, and the effects it would have on nature, infrastructure, and domestic and wild animals, among other things.

Definitely worth a read if this type of thing interests you.