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Kyo · 09-17-2003, 04:30 PM

I am going to take a slightly different slant to this.

To begin with, consider the possible professions:
1. Doctor - Obviously necessary.
2. Student - Utterly useless. Everyone is a student.
3. Police Officer - Arguably useless. In society, a Police Officer is a representative of Law. Considering the officer as an individual, the officer is actually less useful than an Army officer, who is more disciplined and more combat-skilled than the Police Officer. The Army officer is also much more adept at keeping order.
4. Farmer - Food is good. But the question arises: do we necessarily need a farmer? With 10 people, I believe a hunter-gatherer lifestyle would be preferable to an agricultural one.
5. Actress - Useless. Entertainment can be found ... elsewhere.
6. At home father - Useless, unless everyone else is extremely inept at raising children. Without modern equipment, he would be hopelessly out of place anyway.
7. Construction worker - Such a worker has practical knowledge about the best ways to erect structures. However, they are not an architect or engineer - they do not know how to plan a building, only the best way to build something that has already been planned.
8. Lawyer - Useless. With 10 people, law is no longer a technical matter.
9. Principal - Useless. Management positions
10. Judge - Useless, for the same reason a lawyer is useless.
11. Secretary - Useless. Organization will be the least of your worries.
12. Kid - Represents potential, but worthless from a practical standpoint. If the adults die, it is likely she will follow soon after.
13. Priest - I am not a fan of religion, so I am inclined to dump this one. However, in their despair others may feel a need for spiritual comfort or enlightenment. A Priest represents an authority higher than worldly judicators, and therefore commands respect and perhaps even obediance from his followers. If the others you keep are also religious, a Priest actually doubles as a very reliable police officer and judge.
14. Army Officer - Preferred to the police officer. Useful for keeping order, as well as for protection. The stereotypical officer also has a strict sense of honor, loyalty, and discipline, and thus can be counted on to keep others in line while staying in line himself.
15. Computer Programmer - there are no computers, but programming requires an affinity for highly analytical thought. How useful analytical thought would be when you are 10 people in the wilderness just trying to survive is unknown.
16. Linguist - Useless*. The nature of language is irrelevant. *I am assuming everyone you pick speaks the same language. If not ... we could be in deeper than I thought.
17. Drug Dealer - Normally I would throw him away without a second thought, but there must be a reason he was included on the list. No one likes drug dealers, and nobody wants to touch one with a 10 foot pole. The fact that he is the youngest man hardly compensates. Something to chew on - what valuable skills does a drug dealer possess? Any?
18. Weatherman - Useless.
19. Son of God - He hardly needs to be picked; whether he lives or not is entirely dependant on factors outside of your control. In terms of use ... well. I think his job description speaks for itself.
20. Clown - A crude psychologist, really. Sometimes all people need is a good laugh, especially when things are looking bleak. But people are known to be able to get that laugh themselves.

There were several jobs I was looking for that weren't included in the list, much to my surprise. One of these is an engineer. In terms of use, an engineer would be a computer programmer on steroids. Another option would be a scientist (which is different from an engineer). A scientist seems less than useful at the end of the world, but treat him like a dictionary. With some way of recording all of his knowledge, we could salvage hundreds or thousands of years of scientific advancement. Consider: everyone knows how to use a computer in this day and age, but very few actually know how to build one. Without a scientist or computer engineer, this knowledge would be lost.

There are several others, but my time has just run out, unfortunately.

09-17-2003, 04:30 PM	#29 (permalink)
Kyo Crazy	I am going to take a slightly different slant to this. To begin with, consider the possible professions: 1. Doctor - Obviously necessary. 2. Student - Utterly useless. Everyone is a student. 3. Police Officer - Arguably useless. In society, a Police Officer is a representative of Law. Considering the officer as an individual, the officer is actually less useful than an Army officer, who is more disciplined and more combat-skilled than the Police Officer. The Army officer is also much more adept at keeping order. 4. Farmer - Food is good. But the question arises: do we necessarily need a farmer? With 10 people, I believe a hunter-gatherer lifestyle would be preferable to an agricultural one. 5. Actress - Useless. Entertainment can be found ... elsewhere. 6. At home father - Useless, unless everyone else is extremely inept at raising children. Without modern equipment, he would be hopelessly out of place anyway. 7. Construction worker - Such a worker has practical knowledge about the best ways to erect structures. However, they are not an architect or engineer - they do not know how to plan a building, only the best way to build something that has already been planned. 8. Lawyer - Useless. With 10 people, law is no longer a technical matter. 9. Principal - Useless. Management positions 10. Judge - Useless, for the same reason a lawyer is useless. 11. Secretary - Useless. Organization will be the least of your worries. 12. Kid - Represents potential, but worthless from a practical standpoint. If the adults die, it is likely she will follow soon after. 13. Priest - I am not a fan of religion, so I am inclined to dump this one. However, in their despair others may feel a need for spiritual comfort or enlightenment. A Priest represents an authority higher than worldly judicators, and therefore commands respect and perhaps even obediance from his followers. If the others you keep are also religious, a Priest actually doubles as a very reliable police officer and judge. 14. Army Officer - Preferred to the police officer. Useful for keeping order, as well as for protection. The stereotypical officer also has a strict sense of honor, loyalty, and discipline, and thus can be counted on to keep others in line while staying in line himself. 15. Computer Programmer - there are no computers, but programming requires an affinity for highly analytical thought. How useful analytical thought would be when you are 10 people in the wilderness just trying to survive is unknown. 16. Linguist - Useless. The nature of language is irrelevant. I am assuming everyone you pick speaks the same language. If not ... we could be in deeper than I thought. 17. Drug Dealer - Normally I would throw him away without a second thought, but there must be a reason he was included on the list. No one likes drug dealers, and nobody wants to touch one with a 10 foot pole. The fact that he is the youngest man hardly compensates. Something to chew on - what valuable skills does a drug dealer possess? Any? 18. Weatherman - Useless. 19. Son of God - He hardly needs to be picked; whether he lives or not is entirely dependant on factors outside of your control. In terms of use ... well. I think his job description speaks for itself. 20. Clown - A crude psychologist, really. Sometimes all people need is a good laugh, especially when things are looking bleak. But people are known to be able to get that laugh themselves. There were several jobs I was looking for that weren't included in the list, much to my surprise. One of these is an engineer. In terms of use, an engineer would be a computer programmer on steroids. Another option would be a scientist (which is different from an engineer). A scientist seems less than useful at the end of the world, but treat him like a dictionary. With some way of recording all of his knowledge, we could salvage hundreds or thousands of years of scientific advancement. Consider: everyone knows how to use a computer in this day and age, but very few actually know how to build one. Without a scientist or computer engineer, this knowledge would be lost. There are several others, but my time has just run out, unfortunately.