how about a point system... the grading scale could be age: under 30 = +2; 30-39 = +1; 40-49 = -1; over 50 = -2 children: yes = +1; none = 0; health: good health = +1; has genetic disease = -1 skills: essential skills = +2; useful skill = +1 1. Michelle, score = 0 2. Caroline, score = +2 3. Sumiyo, score = +2 4. Natasha, score = +2 5. Addrienne, score = +4 6. Alexandra, score = +2 7. Sergei, score = +1 8. Max, score = +3 9. Hiro, score = 0 10. Rahim, score = +5 11. Kerry, score = 0 12. Steven, score = 0 13. Jorge, score = +4 14. Dimitri, score = +1 15. Angelo, score = +2 Rahim scored the highest so he's in. He's a pilot so we dont need another pilot. That eliminates Alexandra (old) and Caroline (genetic disease). Next up is Addrienne. She is also a botanist and can bear children. Jorge but he is young and fertile. has knowledge of astronomy so that would come in handy for navigation and calendars. Max is a physician and fertile. Now that you have a physicians you can get rid of Sumiyo (old) Out of the remaining, id pick Natasha (young) and Angelo (farming) That would make it 4 guys and 2 girls. I guess Angelo could be substituted for a woman... Rahim Addrienne Jorge Max Natasha Angelo
14. Dimitri is the 32 year old son of the president of Greece. His mother is the former Miss Universe. He is single and has no children. He was a professional model in his early 20s, and then decided to pursue a career in graphic design. He developed a three dimensional graphics program that allows the computers on board the station to map the surfaces of any object with incredible precision. Other than wearing contact lenses to correct severe myopia, he is in excellent health. I don't think this dude is going to want to impregnate any woman anytime soon, post-apocalyptic future or not.
I split up the gender. Best 2 male candidates imo, and best 4 female. Ultimately, I picked the 4 youngest females, even though Natasha's miscarriage bugged me. Women: Michelle because breast cancer could be seen as an age related illness. I don't think life expectancy will be an issue in a post apocalyptic world. It's breed breed breed for extra farmers. Caroline...daughter of a coal miner seems to mesh with fitness with living in a wasteland. Taking a risk with Natasha (wasteland survival skills?, but her youth might cancel out another miscarriage or three. Addrienne...her botany expertise will be crucial. Having children great plus. Men: Max cuz he's flight surgeon and his youth, but someone made a great point about hypertension pills at age 32. Dimitri because he's shown aptitude for technical proficiency and as the son of a president could exhibit leadership skills. Bubble: 1) Rahim appears to be a manly man. Don't know more about his civilian leadership skills, but his available experience doesn't give any clues on wasteland survival. He and Dimitri would be alpha male candidates. I guess they could fight to the death over the spot in the cold silence of space. 2) Angelo's crime is that he's older than the top 3. Cartography is a plus, but will be more essential in future generations. The survivors can ask him where to settle while they're still in space.... 3) I wouldn't mind Steven and Sergi living, but he's a huge unknown in survival and leadership skills and we're working with the info we have. 5) Jorge is very young. Seems lazy and more intellectual than unathletic. He's in space for a reason, but his study of quasars doesn't provide immediate survival benefit. Why not the others: Kerry is old at 57, plus his prolonged exposure to cosmic radiation could lead to flawed jewels.... He would be the best leader candidate though. Hiro is relatively young seems to have great social skills of scale. His place in the hippy utopia will not be tolerated. Alexandria is old and irradiated Sumiyo...father's death is 6 years away. At 48, birth defects would have a as high or higher likelyhood than inbreeding.
My biggest concern is number of women to take, 3 or 4, regardless of age and other factors. If you have 3 women that are capable of having an average of 10 children through their child bearing ages left...that gives you 30 people in the 2nd generation. If you have 4 women, you get 40 people in the 2nd generation. Assuming you get half girls: you get 15 child bearers with 3 original women, and 20 with 4 original women. To generation 3: assuming an average of 10 children: you get 150 children vs. 200. Assume half are female, its 75 child bearers vs. 100. I take the 25 extra child bearers by generation 3. So in 2 generation shifts, by taking one extra woman, it turns into 25 women MORE in 20-30 years. You get an exponential increase in population every generation.
i had an anthropology class once that asked a similar question. if you can choose, you should never have more men then women if you want to repopulate a planet. men can impregnate women at any time and it only takes a few, therefore more expendable. fewer women would take more pregnancy cycles, resulting in less offspring during a generation. survival of the general population would be riskier.
