Slims

First, I am assuming that we are the last ten people alive. Ten people probably provides too small of a gene pool for humans to survive, but assuming it could be done....

My goal would be to find the optimal balance between reproductive ability (lots of women), enough men for genetic diversity, a broad range of skills, and avoidance of direct competition with me.

People I would pick:
1. Doctor, Male, 40 yrs
People will get sick, and he will be able to pass on a lot of knowledge to the next generation.

2. Student, Female, 19 yrs
Need females to breed.

4. Farmer, Male, 57 yrs
We've gotta eat. This guy will probably die soon, but probably not before teaching us enough about agriculture to survive.

5. Actress, Female, 33 yrs
Still fertile, and with life experience to boot.

10. Judge, Female, 47 yrs
We need someone who knows how to settle disputes and solve problems in a fair manner. Hopefully fertile.

7. Construction Worker, Female, 28 yrs
Can build things, very important. Also probably fertile.

12. Kid, Female, 13yrs
We would need someone who was old enough to start learning from the adults immediately, but still young enough to pass their knowledge onto future generations. I.e. could bridge the 'generation gap' that would ensue. Also would be fertile (at least in a few years).

9. Principal, Female, 29 yrs
Presumably fertile, and would know the basics of educating children.

15. Computer Programmer, Female, 35 yrs
Probably fertile. Also useful as computer programmer provided fuel available for generators/working computers to access databases and whatnot.


Who I would not pick, and why:


3. Police Officer, Male, 37 yrs Authoritarian, things would have to be done 'his way'. I would probably shoot him very quickly, or he would do the same.

6. At home father, Male, 49 yrs
What good is he? He's old, and doesn't seem to have any particular skills.

8. Lawyer, Female, 51 yrs
Old for a female and probably underhanded. Laws would be more or less useless in a society of ten. We would just have to live by the basics "don't murder, steal, etc."

11. Secretary, Male, 25 yrs
Useless, and competition.

13. Priest, Male, 60
I don't want anybody pushing their wierd beliefs. Besides, even if he could get it up, he probably wouldn't.

14. Army officer, Male, 48 yrs
This guy would definitely want to be in charge. I would definitely feel the need to shoot him. He wouldn't last long.

16. Linguist, Female, 40
With only ten people, what good is a linguist? Even if we spoke different languages, some common ground or pidgin would be learned quickly enough.

17. Drug Dealer, Male, 23 yrs
He couldn't be trusted, and he might get some of the people hooked on stuff. Also he would be direct competition.

19. Son of God, Jesus, ???
Why should I save him if he can save himself?

20. Clown, Female, 30
Useless and annoying

18. Weatherman, Male, 44 yrs
Would be marginally usefull, but I think I chose to snag another female instead.

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"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." - Winston Churchill

"All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act out their dream with open eyes, to make it possible." Seven Pillars of Wisdom, T.E. Lawrence