genuinegirly

Good point! But I still wouldn't want to raise all of them on my own!

I'm a woman. but i'm not so sure that i'd be willing to repopulate the planet single-handed. Not right away, at least. Having no one to help me change diapers would be difficult.

I would accept my role of mother eventually, though. Probably because I'd be terribly bored and want company. Knowing that I could make company, no matter how painful... might as well try.

Before the power grid fails, I would search out a sperm bank & take my pick of several hundred samples that would allow for the greatest possible diversity. Then I would take up residence at a solar-powered home in California, keep the potential children in an industrial freezer, and try to figure out the logistics of running a proper household by myself.

I'd probably stick near a university campus with a huge library, so I could have the proper references for any project I happened to think up. The blank slate of a world would offer plenty of opportunity for creativity. I just hope I wouldn't have to deal with the smell of rotting bodies and the rubble of complete destruction.

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kel

Go the gun store and then the range and enjoy the fact that there is no more gun control. Stock up on canned food. Eventually I would go to the library so I could learn to live off the land and go basically native. Supplementing what I couldn't create myself with whatever I can find around me. I hope that most canned goods won't go bad before I die :-(

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captobvious

As much as I'd like to think I'd do something more exciting, I'd probably go around looking for people just to make sure I was the last person on Earth. I'd imagine that would take quite a bit of time since the Earth is pretty big, so I'm not sure if I'd have time to do anything else.

Coppertop

There's already a thread on this exact topic with hundreds of responses around here somewhere, but I cannot find it...

micah67

First stop would be Home Depot to pick up a serious set of bolt cutters. Second stop would be the local gun store, using bolt cutters to gain access. After selecting, testing, practicing, and loading up, I’m ready to face the world. Quick detour – need to stop at REI for survival items.

Now, it would be a lot more fun with the hope of other "survivors" - it would become a quest and hope is a strong motivator. But the original premise was that you are the last person on Earth. With that in mind I’d have to say “good riddance” to the human race and quash any desire to resurrect it. Fatalistically, I’d have to turn hedonistic (oh darn!).

But first, I’d go exploring and see things I haven’t seen before. It would be difficult and very dangerous to cross an ocean solo so, initially, I'd stay on this land mass. Eventually I’d get bored enough to risk a large crossing with a top-of-the line sail boat and head to Europe for some more exploring. From there I can get to almost everywhere else (sorry Australia/New Zealand – maybe in the next imaginary life).

For those times where I want to settle down for a bit, I'd head towards the ocean to live: it'd be easier to consistently catch food from the sea than to hunt on dry land. I’d head somewhere tropical to minimize weather concerns (and enjoy the benefits of mass amounts of fruit). I’d find a nice place near the beach – high enough to reduce concern of tides/floods. Or maybe have two homes and move between them with the seasons.

Learning about medicine would be crucial. It would be very important to know how long the drugs remain viable and how to make them from scratch when the drugs have all expired or are dangerous to take. And you have to be careful: there's no one to help you if you break a leg. Can you imagine having to remove your own appendix? Don’t forget to floss – doing your own tooth extractions wouldn’t be fun.

Oh, and I’d pick up a traveling companion (conveniently, they're office is not far from my house). This would be more portable, though.

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~micah

sky_driver

Great plan of action. But having been a pilot since 1993, I can assure you that it would be very difficult ( possible, but very unlikely ) that you could teach yourself to fly without actually at least having some lessions with an instructror.

As I have always told others, flying a plane is very very easy, it is the landing that can sometimes be a bitch.

hotzot

After he cloned himself he could teach his clone to fly. Remember the old addage.."Those who can't do, Teach" Plus with all those clones, I'm sure one of them would make it on the ground.

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Fire

not to rain on some parades, but- Gasoline has a shelf life- it turns to laquer in about a year or so- and it will soak up water from the air as well- so one would be better served to locate an ethenol burning or all fuels vehic and spare parts (and repair manuals) and distill your own fuel - Do not know if motor oil has a shelf life- anyone? ps- generators also come in all fuels models- and solar is an option- lots of reading to do to make that work unless one was really handy though- the cloning would be difficulty or more likely impossible, but its not like you would have anything better to do- I think that bordedom and lonelyness would be the biggest enemy, so I would have pets- and would profoundly miss the people in my life.....

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Ch'i

Raid the local library, hardware store, and grocery store first thing; beef jerky is a must. Get some hunting tools, and start practicing. Then I would definately read up on older cultures that survived without electicity, and mimic them. As for boredom, I'd probably undertake some insanely monumetal project like recreating a pyramid or something. Just in case someone did survive, they'd have something interesting to look at.

streak_56

that actually was my first thought... I'd see how fast I can get going in a car before I got in an accident and oops.... there goes humanity.

1010011010

The first month would be the hardest as various systems that previously had been running autonomously finally failed. The sheer amount of crap that would catch on fire in an urban area would make being able to move and move quickly a priority... So stock up a vehicle with survival kit and keep it nearby.

Once things stopped working, though, life would be pretty easy. Any of the big chain convenience stores that survived the fires would have enough non-perishable stuff to feed and supply a single human for years. Might be a good idea to get a gas mask for after the meat and produce have turned.

I'd stock up a utility van with basic survival kit and go somewhere with a nice year-round climate. Read a lot of books. Watch a lot of DVDs. Do a lot of drugs. Make the occassional trip to places I normally wouldn't be allowed to go just to see what was hidden there. Not a lot to it.

Re: Inbreeding and rebuilding the human race.
Returning cryogenically preserved ova and semen to a viable state isn't a matter of putting them out on the counter to thaw. Also, without a regular delivery of liquid nitrogen, they wouldn't be cryogenically perserved within a few days.
You might succeed in getting yourself pregnant and having one child. If that child happened to be male you can try it again in 12-15 years, assuming you both survive the birth and he survives childhood. If that child is female, oh well, tough shit. If you happen to be male... what exactly were you planning on doing with those embryos? Keep them in a shoebox for nine months?
Genetic diversity isn't as big of a problem as you might think. Instill in your offspring the pragmatic importance of culling the herd and the necessity of everybody getting down with everybody else. This will lead to some really fucked up ethical systems for several hundred years if you succeed in establishing a breeding population, but you'll be dead.
I don't think it's worth the trouble, and I'm male so I wouldn't have the option of trying it, anyway.

Nuclear power plants might continue operating unsupervised for several months. There's minimal risk of catastrophic failure under plausible initial conditions. They would probably end up damaged beyond reoperability by their own decay heat when they finally did shutdown, but I doubt anyone would ever be trying a start-up on one again, anyway.

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Simple Machines in Higher Dimensions

Gilda

As soon as I ensured that I was indeed the last person on earth, I'd probably kill myself. Not the most interesting plan, I know, but I'd rate the possibility of my surviving for very long pretty low anyway, and really, what would be the point?

Gilda

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Willravel

Oh man, that stuff would make GREAT fertalizer for crops, don't let it go to waste!!! Move it out and let it rot somewhere until you have a great big mulch pile.
How's that?
The failure is something that occours due to neglegence, something that might be a problem if there is only one person left. The cooling and safety systems are run on computers that are operated by trained technicians. If there's no one there to monitor the cooling systems, the core could (would) overheat and melt. This could potentially release highly radioactive fission products to the environment. That stuff sucks.

Removing radioactive materials from water can be tricky. I would suggest anion exchange resins combined with reverse osmosis, but I'm just a layman.

Plaid13

I would find myself a nice large 4x4 truck put a cap on the bed and get myself a hand crank gas siphen pump so i could suck gas out of the large underground tanks at gas stations. Then stop by a hardware store and get myself a few basic tools. Axe sledge hammer hammer nails some wood and any other basic supplys i think might come in handy. Then to the grocery stores to stock up on canned foods spam!! lots of canned veggies and all of that stuff. and dry foods that dont spoil pastas and that sort of thing. then i would make sure to eat stuff that does spoil first just because i know i wont get to enjoy it after that very often. then to a gun store to get myself a pistol something powerful maybe a .45 just for self defense from any animals that i might come across. would be something i could keep handy just in case. Then a large shotgun with plenty of slug ammo buck shot and game load for hunting duck and that sort of thing. Then a large Rifle something i think would be good and reliable and a crapload of ammo for that. Then get myself a nice compound bow and plenty of arrows and a good skinning knife and butcher knife and anything else i might think would be helpful for gutting and cleaning animals so i could eat the meat. Then a trip to a library to get myself some books. basic medical books with plenty of good first aid info and that sort of thing. Then books on survival and how to hunt and butcher your own meat. Just so i know im not doing anything horribly wrong. and any info i could get on solar power and wind power. Then to a few military bases to load up on those MRE meals that have a crazy long shelflife and all the first aid and survival stuff and medication i could get my paws on. then getmyself ready for a long road trip. then off to find myself a perfect spot to live for the rest of my life. Hopefully somewhere with some wind turbines making power with some sort of orchard near by with fruits growing. apples oranges and that sort of thing would be great. Find myself a nice house near by thats powered by those turbines then just in case go find a bunch of solar panals to load up on the house and anywhere else i have room to mount them. That way power wont be a problem. I would try to make a animal friendly envirorment near by so i have stuff to hunt. deer cow sheep chickens and that sort of thing. Then collect any info i could find on farming but not all modern farming because after a while the gas will go bad and using a big tractor isnt going to work. so i would need to go back to animal power but that would work since i would just need to feed myself. Would grow stuff that would be good for both me and any animals i might want to keep. Then it would be time to go to california to snag myself a large car carrior truck and some of those fancy electric cars that recharge plugging into the wall outlet. I would make sure i get as many as possible so when one breaks im not totaly out of luck. So then i would have my basics

Well water fruit veggies first aid stuff hunting stuff animals hopefully will be able to manage to deal with basic farm animal stuff. chickens for eggs cows milk beef and that sort of thing... i like pork but pigs smell bad so yeah im not gonna farm those. Power from solar and wind and as many dvds and basic comforts of home that i would normaly have. After a while the internet and stuff would fail and that would be annoying. but at least i would have video games and all the dvds i could handle. But with all the farming stuff just for basic survival i would be fairly busy as it was. Would have to get a few pets to keep me from going nuts. Would have cats that i would let go outdoors whenever they wanted to keep mice and rats under control to keep disease from being that big of a problem. Where every i picked to live would have to have at least a river near by so i could fish just to get some alterintives to my diet. Would make sure i stocked up on stuff to fix anything that might go wrong at the house. Lots of wood and metal and wood and metal tools welder and saws and whatever else might be handy. a Large trailer that i would use to haul off garbage far from where i live to keep things clean and healthy. then i woul dneed to think of the joys of the septic system Because after a few years that things gonna fill up and i dont need my own waste backing up into the house. So i would need to find a way to drain the tank and haul it away.

I wouldnt try to repopulate the planet. But i would spend time making sure i was the only person left. I think for the most part i would be ok living on my own. Would have plenty of books to read and movies to watch and work to do to keep me busy. Have a few dogs to play with to keep me from getting too lonely. Heat and AC from fireplace and solar/wind power and a electric furnace. Would be a comfortable life i think. In a way it would be peaceful and pleasant. Wouldnt need to worry about any crazy people screwing things up for you. would just need to plan ahead and be very careful not to get hurt. A broken leg could really be a pain in the butt. Basicly it wouldnt be so bad if everyone just vanished. Now if there was a plauge or some sort of apocolipse with scattered people left around i think it would be harder. because you never know what desperate people might do. At least if you know your alone you know your the top of the food chain. if others were left scattered about you never know what kinda freak might show up to steal your stuff kill you eat you rape you or whatever. Sure animals can be dangerous too but.. a wild animal looking for a meal would sooner go after the farm animals then a person. And thats what having the guns around is for.

after i was settled in i wouldnt take any risks i didnt have to. no excessive traveling or anything. Now a road trip a few hundred miles is nothing. but when you have abandoned cars all over the place from when people vanished it would be a pain just getting around. No reason to go out and risk getting hurt and stranded far from the safety of home where i know i had supplys.

1010011010

The nearest electronics store will have a large number of DVDs, portable DVD players, and batteries. And I'd probably hook up a generator at some point, anyway. They have casualty scenarios that involve all of the operators being killed and access to the control areas being precluded by steam or radiation. Fission product release to the environment is near-zero probability. Catastropic core damage requires some fairly unusual assumptions about power history and material condition. Decay heat will damage the electrical windings in the motors of the coolant pumps and rod drive systems. I'd recommend getting your water from somewhere else. Like bottled water from the nearest convenience store.

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Simple Machines in Higher Dimensions

papermachesatan

Wait? Are you aware that you will need a female to carry the child? A baby can be concieved in a test tube but you will need a mother to carry it.