Hypothetical question: Tomorrow, a cataclysmic event occurs and wipes out everything and everyone except 100 million people randomly living around the world. Technology destroyed, electricity generation plants destroyed, oil rigs destroyed. Animal/plant/species diversity is reduced to 1% of the current population. Lets say the remaining people are resilient and start to rebuild civilization. They teach their kids who teach their kids and subsequent generations. What would they teach? What knowledge would endure? Would it be religion? Would it be fairy tales, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and other fictional works local but popular to those people? or would it be science & history? Or perhaps farming practices? 100 million people is close to 1.5% of the total world population now. and what would last if only 10 million people survived?
I would try to be the first to this. Svalbard Global Seed Vault Control this and you control the world!
Monotheistic religion. The cataclysmic event would be interpreted as God once again punishing his children to show them the errors of their ways. Really, I think that's one of the few things for sure. Just depends on who remains alive. If by some terrible luck, every scientist died during the event, we'd continue on with a primitive form of technology
If it was religion, christian population would be a smaller group compared to the number of people who would survive in India/China (non-Christians). Could this start religious wars and such again?
With the animal/plant/species diversity being reduced to 1% of the current population, textbooks will be the last thing anyone gives a **** about for many years.....other than to burn for fuel or wipe your butt with. The only books that will be worth anything will be things like this.....
I think religion wouldn't be as significant. Communication lines would be down and people would be desperately figuring out how to grow their food for the first few decades. In that process I think science would win out as the popular information shared, with religion becoming a private matter passed down through families only. By science I don't mean complicated research level study, but basic school level work that we've all learnt; as well as scientific study of the environment meaning basic weather patterns like recognizing hurricane season or monsoon season or the like. Years later, decades or centuries, once the comfort of living is established by technological advances, religion will start to gain dominance again, but its story would have changed or have a different set of pillars on which it's based.
Probably some form of religion, but one that's a bit different from what we have (and probably mixed in with other pop culture. I personally imagine people, hundreds of years after such an event, telling the good story of our lord and savior Harry Potter or something like that.
I disagree. Textbooks cover things like farming and ranching and medicine, which will all be VERY important should the world end.
if only 1% of plants and animals survive, those would die off very quickly. The ecosystem is very vulnerable and youre talking about destroying 99% of it?
Religion provides means of organization and social identity, code of laws and mythology for entertainment and hope. Just realize at first it's not gonna be some organ-hymned maypole ****, get ready to kneel to a pile of rocks and slaughter some daughters for a low tide.
