Phase Two: Cell (Part 3)

    "They encountered a woman of about forty and a man maybe twenty years older pushing shopping

carts, each containing a child. The one in the man's cart was a boy, and too big for the conveyance, but he

had found a way to curl up inside and fall asleep." (PDF pg.81)

    The more that I read this book, the more I'm reminded about the fate of society in The Road. This scene almost replicates something seen in that novel. Coincidentally, both authors seem to think that an apocalyptic scenario involves shopping carts on highways.
    Anyway, if there were to be an apocalypse, the human race would be royally screwed do to its offsprings' lack of instinct. In a time of crisis, there's no way that a child below the age of 6 could take care of itself. It would have no idea what to do. Best case scenario: The child is born in the apocalyptic world and taught basic survival skills like foraging and firemaking. The child is then released at the age of seven to try and survive. THAT'S OUR BEST CASE SCENARIO. Natural Selection would eventually take its course; The best at adapting would survive and pass on their genes (if they could find a mate and figure out what the hell was going on - I'm pretty sure humans have the instinct to realize that they can reproduce, but I'm not sure if they can figure out how).

    Any kind of human child would have no idea how to instinctually live off of the land. Hell, they can't even move until ther're a year old! A YEAR! Most K-Strategists have released their young by then. It's bad enough that Human Gestation takes 9 months - the baby can't even function without at least 5-7 years of teaching.

    The worst part of it is that humans have grown out of "land living." Most of the available food (berries, leaves) is indigestible - we don't have the internal enzymes to process any of it. Scientists believe that the appendix was once used for creating the enzymes necessary to digest a broad variety of plant matter, but the appendix just kinda sits there now.

    That's enough rambling for one blog. Humans cannot produce viable offspring for survival and are likely to die off. Thanks, Evolution!

*God, I hate Blogger right now. The formatting is screwing me over. I've tried to type this up three times now and I have to go back each time.

    The small child in the shopping cart got me thinking about what would happen to future generations in wasteland-esque scenarios.

     Humans are "K-Strategists" (AP Bio term from last year), meaning that we hold on to our young for extended periods of time before letting them into the wild. Other examples of K-Strategists are deer, cows, wild cats, bears, etc. Meanwhile, there are "R-strategists", the animals that breed like jackals and completely abandon their youth, like bugs, turtles, etc.

    One Key difference between humans and other K-Strategists is the period of "infancy" Most K-Strategists will hold on to their young for 1-3 years before letting them off on their own. Most animals are fully grown by then. However, humans hold on to their young for AT LEAST 18 years (25 thanks to Generation X http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-ways-we-ruined-occupy-wall-street-generation/).

Alright, Timmy. You're three years old; You're a grown man. Now go out there and procreate! You're mother and I want grandkids before we're 16.