How far would you go?

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stabman

stabman

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There's been a bit of talk about ethics in survival situations, and it got me thinking.
How far would you go?
I'd eat the corpses of my fellow crash victims and/or make fish hooks out of their bones if needed.
I'd set fire to an unihabited island to make a signal fire if it would save me and my loved ones, animals be damned.
Basically I'd do every nasty, gross, and unthinkable thing needed to get out alive, although obviously I'd prefer to live on dandelion greens and wild grapes and fish than roadkill and dead people.
How about you? Do you have limits? Or do you value your life more than philosophical concerns?
 
Note to self: DON'T hang out with Stabman. :D

JK, I believe it would be hard to say with any certainty exactly what you would or would not do until faced with a situation in which there were few alternatives.
 
Codger_64 said:
Note to self: DON'T hang out with Stabman. :D

JK, I believe it would be hard to say with any certainty exactly what you would or would not do until faced with a situation in which there were few alternatives.
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I agree with you. I am not sure how far I would truly go. It is nice to think I would do anything, no matter what. But unless presented with a situation, I am not sure I would be able to do everything possible.
 
Codger_64 said:
Note to self: DON'T hang out with Stabman. :D

JK, I believe it would be hard to say with any certainty exactly what you would or would not do until faced with a situation in which there were few alternatives.
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Well, I don't resort to cannibalism THAT quickly...:D

But I agree it's difficult to say for sure what one would do in a situation. I've found, however, that thinking things through a certain amount beforehand tends to reduce the "freeze or panic" reaction many have.
 
It comes down to how much you want to live.

i also think it depends on what your morals and values are too.

could you cut your arm or leg off off like it has been done by some? Kill another person?


Humans are and can be very tough when they really need to.

Bryan
 
sicily02 said:
It comes down to how much you want to live.
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And there it is.
My grandfather survived the Death March during WW2. He and a group of about 8 put a pot on some poles, and put some wood to make a slow fire in it. They put another pot in as well, with water in it.
They sent runners/foragers as far as the Germans would allow without shooting them. Anything that moved went in the pot.
And I mean anything. Any edible plants went in as well.
There were others who refused to eat the stew...they died.
The 9 of them who did eat the stew lived.
Of course, by the end of it he was down to 88 pounds from a starting weight of 170 pounds.
But he lived.
That's the will to live. That's survival.
 
"Uncle" D.L. was there as well. He wouldn't say what he ate, other than generalizing like that. Eating creepy-crawlies wouldn't be a big deal to me. But some things I would rather not think about eating (ala Bare Gorillas) unless there were simply no other options. It is a fact that when your body runs out of food to eat, it begins consuming itself. But starvation takes much longer than most people think. The pain of an empty stomach goes away in a few days.
 
Codger_64 said:
But starvation takes much longer than most people think.
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That's quite true as well.
Which is good, because in a real survival situation, I might not find much to eat at all, depending on where and when it happened.
 
I have no moral dilemma with cannibalism, surviving is more important than morals(and other people)
 
I often ask my friends about this situation . I have no problem killing anouther human to protect my friends and family but I wonder if it were just myself if I would feel that I had more of a "right" to live . I don`t know if I could eat someone I know (and like) but strangers (and a@#holes) beware! Also I could never eat a child and would probably use the last of my strenght to bury a child or woman. In a well populated area cats and dogs and other small "game" would be somewhat easy prey depending on the reason for the emergency.
 
I guess I'm alone in this crowed. Philosophical concerns and quality of life severely limit how far I'll let things slide. If I'm stranded on a deserted island or an alpine mountain top awaiting rescue, I'm sure I'd do whatever it takes. But if I was born in Libya thirty some odd years ago? I wonder if I would have been part of the crowed that toppled their corrupt regime. Or I would have been part of the crowed that just did what I was told and executed innocent civilians because it put food on my table. Or if I were an American....perish the thought. If I woke up tomorrow to a nightmare of living in a trailer in Mississippi. With bad knee's, a bad back, obesity, and everything that goes with it. A felony record that prevented me from leaving the state, and no education. Essentially little chance to really improve the quality of my life. Just having to get by with a crappy job that barely provides enough to feed my family with fake, disgusting food grown with toxins and artificially ripened in a warehouse. I wonder how long I would continue to have the will to survive? How long would I continue to live on my knee's in relative peace and safety? How about you?
 
I know I have good survival skills and have eaten critters and crawlers when I was learning, (and occasionally still do when nobodies looking), so when it comes down to it I would eat the asshole out of a skunk and go back for his nuts if I was hungry enough. I don't know about cannibalism though...but who knows until it happens. But if I were dead I wouldn't fault a survivor for doing so.
Betch'a Stabman's just salivating while reading that. :D
Later,
--J
 
--J said:
I know I have good survival skills and have eaten critters and crawlers when I was learning, (and occasionally still do when nobodies looking), so when it comes down to it I would eat the asshole out of a skunk and go back for his nuts if I was hungry enough. I don't know about cannibalism though...but who knows until it happens. But if I were dead I wouldn't fault a survivor for doing so.
Betch'a Stabman's just salivating while reading that. :D
Later,
--J
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I'm still refining my list of people to avoid if TEOTWAWKI! :D

Some of the things I have eaten disgusted my friends or family. But that was mostly things I have eaten by my own choice and preference. In swamp survival, I gained weight while my teammate lost weight. Myself, I believe I would start with the skunk's nose and work backward, hoping for a more palatable critter to happen along before I got to the nastier bits, like a nice greasy possum.
 
--J said:
But if I were dead I wouldn't fault a survivor for doing so.
Betch'a Stabman's just salivating while reading that. :D
Later,
--J
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Well, since this ISN'T a survival situation, I'm planning on some honey garlic Johnsonville brats for dinner tonight.:)

I think I'd prefer to eat worms and other assorted bugs rather than dead people, given the choice. I hope most of us wouldn't jump onto the cannibal train all that quickly.
 
stabman said:
Well, since this ISN'T a survival situation, I'm planning on some honey garlic Johnsonville brats for dinner tonight.:)
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Oh yuck!:barf: Are you trying to gross us out Stabman? I mean the cannibalism I can understand, but now you've gone to far and made me throw up!:p
 
Stabman, Very good point on the WWII guys.
I am with ya on your thoughts. I would and have eaten different bugs and slugs and different plants that maybe some would not, while eating a human is far from my thoughts lol. Worms really are not that bad and neither are alot of wood type grubs. I think meal worms are pretty tasty.
That team of I think theywere soccer players ??? that crashed into the Andys mountains. what they did by eating there fellow teammates yes some survived and some did not. After something like that I am not sure I would want to live. Again it will depend on a persons beliefs. Death before dishonor is a option.

Drivebytrucker, you make a good point about having a bad back, knees, house,life, job. maybe death would be better. it will depend on your belief about death and what happens at death.


Bryan
 
stabman said:
Well, since this ISN'T a survival situation, I'm planning on some honey garlic Johnsonville brats for dinner tonight.:)

I think I'd prefer to eat worms and other assorted bugs rather than dead people, given the choice. I hope most of us wouldn't jump onto the cannibal train all that quickly.
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Better jump on before the long pig starts rotting, I have a saying "If the world ends and it's me and the cockroaches, I'll eat the cockroaches".

I don't condone murder, but cannibalism is A-okay in my book, just hope the guy you're eating was a vegan for a few years first, I think most people would taste like crap.
 
Skimo said:
Better jump on before the long pig starts rotting, I have a saying "If the world ends and it's me and the cockroaches, I'll eat the cockroaches".

I don't condone murder, but cannibalism is A-okay in my book, just hope the guy you're eating was a vegan for a few years first, I think most people would taste like crap.
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They say like pig or bear. I've had cougar sausage and it wasn't anything to write home about.
 
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