can 2 people repopulate the earth?

dan330 · Aug 30, 2014

lets pretend there are 1000 couples .. man and woman.. average health.
put each couple on a deserted planet.. earth like planet.
alone.. with no other people.
leave them to do whatever.

come back in 10,000 years.. and check the 1000 planets.
how many will be completely deserted again?
how many will have humans healthy and with big population?

would genetic problems from inbreeding.. create to much a problem that they can not survive. or would the DNA some how correct these issues out?

EarlyMon · Aug 30, 2014

What technology have you stranded them with?

What resources are available?

What are the naturally occurring mutagens? How effective are they?

What ecosystems are there? How do you define deserted? Are there predators, from microscopic to larger than human?

What's the climate like?

What freshwater sources are available?

dmcjr22 · Aug 31, 2014

If you believe in religion and adam and eve then yes.
If you believe in logic, evolution then no like you asked using information about dna and incest it would seem that the dna would be mutated and humans would cease to exist at some point and time.

dan330 · Aug 31, 2014

EarlyMon said:
What technology have you stranded them with?

What resources are available?

What are the naturally occurring mutagens? How effective are they?

What ecosystems are there? How do you define deserted? Are there predators, from microscopic to larger than human?

What's the climate like?

What freshwater sources are available?

it is earth like. so nothing abnormal in the environment that they are not used to.

the are alone.. so no ecosystem. just all earth like creatures.

they have camping tools.. 2 guns (9mm) and 100k ammo.
1 super solar SUV for transportation.. should last for 100yrs.

the 2 people like each other.
this is mostly a genetics question.
if they die off.. then about how many generations will this experiment last?

my guess.. I would think about 20 generations (of inbreeding) is as far as I think it would go.
to stupid to survive.

EarlyMon · Aug 31, 2014

dan330 said:
it is earth like. so nothing abnormal in the environment that they are not used to.

the are alone.. so no ecosystem. just all earth like creatures.

they have camping tools.. 2 guns (9mm) and 100k ammo.
1 super solar SUV for transportation.. should last for 100yrs.

the 2 people like each other.

They survive until a religious caste rises and controls the Holy Super Solar SUV. The revolution that inevitably follows will spawn a cargo cult expecting that the burned out, rusting hulk left over will somehow provide meaning to their lives.

By that time, one of the 9 mms has been tossed into an ocean or river or buried based on some philosophy or other.

The other is useless when needed because long before they discovered that the seemingly endless supply of ammunition contained an excellent fire starter if disassembled, and fun for lighting on special occasions.

400, 500 years, tops.

And that's if you get one lucky enough to last that long.

The others didn't survive a century, having fallen to plagues, the flu, malnutrition, the elements, quarrels, dysentery and attacks by wild animals unfazed by 9 mm bullets.

Btw http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecosystem

sfbloodbrother · Aug 31, 2014

EarlyMon ask good questions. I think it's possible if there aren't any other things, or animals that kill us first.

2 humans vs a tiger or bear? I won't take my chances...

MoodyBlues · Aug 31, 2014

dan330 said:
it is earth like. so nothing abnormal in the environment that they are not used to.

That's kind of a broad statement. Earth has areas where temperatures plunge far below zero; areas that don't see the sun for months at a time; areas that have triple-digit temperatures as the norm; areas that get buried under yards of snow every winter; flat areas; mountainous areas; swamp areas; etc. Just here in SoCal we have several distinct micro-climates, each with their own weather forecasts--ranging from below freezing to triple digits, all on the same day.

So if you take someone from the Sahara desert and put them on an Earth-like planet that has temperatures below freezing...I don't think they'd fare too well!

Hadron · Aug 31, 2014

Genetic diversity sounds very problematic to me. I doubt any would have a *healthy* human population.

But most probably wouldn't survive 2 generations. One mistake early on, one illness, and it's game over. Lack of diversity means that even if you get a larger population (and don't worry about the number of toes) they'll all be vulnerable to the same pathogens. And that assumes they can handle the isolation psychologically, which not all will. I suspect those 9mms will end a good few colonies, one way or another.

dmcjr22 · Aug 31, 2014

Hadron said:
Genetic diversity sounds very problematic to me. I doubt any would have a *healthy* human population.

But most probably wouldn't survive 2 generations. One mistake early on, one illness, and it's game over. Lack of diversity means that even if you get a larger population (and don't worry about the number of toes) they'll all be vulnerable to the same pathogens. And that assumes they can handle the isolation psychologically, which not all will. I suspect those 9mms will end a good few colonies, one way or another.

You bring up a great point in the statement of 9mms were destructive creatures to ourselves. Emotions would play a instrumental factor into survival. 2 people would get sick off each other and kill one another with whatever is handy at the moment. Then of course other responses of genetic factors would play a major factor. As well as time math and chance, when you factor in the age of reproduction,9 month gestation period waiting until offspring can reproduce. Chances of their survival, alternating birthrate of boys and girls to keep the population growing at a steady rate and or even continuing at all depending on the ratio of sexes. And the biggest chance of them all survival off the fittest. You would definitely need a larger number of people in my opinion to succeed in the experiment. Then i digress in the fact that scientists say that the odds of the creation of the known universe and life are perfectly randomly astronomical in itself. Maybe all of us participating in this thread can come up with an algorithm to solve this, and collectively receive the Nobel Prize and surpass such geniuses as Newton, Copernicus, Einstein, and Hawkings?

EarlyMon · Aug 31, 2014

dmcjr22 said:
You bring up a great point in the statement of 9mms were destructive creatures to ourselves. Emotions would play a instrumental factor into survival. 2 people would get sick off each other and kill one another with whatever is handy at the moment. Then of course other responses of genetic factors would play a major factor. As well as time math and chance, when you factor in the age of reproduction,9 month gestation period waiting until offspring can reproduce. Chances of their survival, alternating birthrate of boys and girls to keep the population growing at a steady rate and or even continuing at all depending on the ratio of sexes. And the biggest chance of them all survival off the fittest. You would definitely need a larger number of people in my opinion to succeed in the experiment. Then i digress in the fact that scientists say that the odds of the creation of the known universe and life are perfectly randomly astronomical in itself. Maybe all of us participating in this thread can come up with an algorithm to solve this, and collectively receive the Nobel Prize and surpass such geniuses as Newton, Copernicus, Einstein, and Hawkings?

Yeah.

No.

doodsme · Aug 31, 2014

Good question. If you can wait for approx. a decade, your question will be answered soon....

http://www.mars-one.com/

It's for Mars though and they will be sending more people later.

EarlyMon · Aug 31, 2014

First we need to survey to see if consumers prefer a nasal inserted fire product.

Bonus if you know how that's relevant.

dan330 · Aug 31, 2014

you all have good points.. some more than others.
but they are divergent from this particular post's intention.

I am only wondering if DNA and inbreeding with only 2 people to populate a new world... would have a chance to work or not.

EarlyMon · Aug 31, 2014

dan330 said:
you all have good points.. but they are divergent from this particular post's intention.

I am only wondering if DNA and inbreeding with only 2 people to populate a new world... would have a chance to work or not.

Actually, aside the my last post, my prediction was very much based on genetics - after all, it's part of the foundation of sociology.

Humans are not line replaceable units that operate independently of the collective.

The environment is too harsh for that.

You want to know what the degradation to idiocy rate is from inbreeding.

Yet to solve that, you have to have social conditions that allows long term survival to test the theory.

I don't think that condition is met.

dmcjr22 · Aug 31, 2014

Ive found this question/thread to be most interesting. So thanks for starting it.

Early whats the answer to the bonus question? Also seeing how you used Idiocracy in your last post you see the movie Idiocracy its a comedy but holds true in y opinion of the digression of society and in ways has relevance to the ops question in the sense of what kind of society could exist if the experiment were to exceed

EarlyMon · Aug 31, 2014

dmcjr22 said:
Early whats the answer to the bonus question?

42 lol

Seriously, that's the answer to life, the universe and everything, and the source of my statement about fire.

dmcjr22 · Aug 31, 2014

Haha just read about 42.Pretty neat stuff gonna do some more searching. You hear about the number phi?

EarlyMon · Sep 1, 2014

dmcjr22 said:
Haha just read about 42.Pretty neat stuff gonna do some more searching. You hear about the number phi?

Well, several versions, not sure which one you mean. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phi

dmcjr22 · Sep 1, 2014

My bad meant phi the golden ratio.. i was blown away when i learned about it!!

Sorry for getting off topic dan

Unforgiven · Sep 2, 2014

Are we putting hairdressers with hairdressers, and phone cleaners with phone cleaners? If so, I think the planet populates with hairdressers will probably flame out quickly, but will look marvelous. The phone cleaners may go a few more generations due simply to their appreciation for sanitation, but will also succumb due to an inherent lack of face to face interpersonal skills.

...my purse...

dan330 · Sep 2, 2014

I guess... the world may never know.

can 2 people repopulate the earth?

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