Prepping for Others, The True Key to Survival in Collapse

You know what’s weird?

Almost every single person I’ve ever met has seen the exact same five minutes of The Twilight Zone. Even if you’re like me, and you’ve never actually sat down to watch the show, you’ve still seen this clip. That mild-mannered bookworm, that introvert bank teller named Henry, who finally finds time to read as much as he ever wanted after a nuclear war wipes out civilization... He goes around blissfully making piles of books he’s going to read, and then the unthinkable happens.

He bends over, and his glasses slip off his nose.

They break.

Ouch.

There’s something deep buried in here, and it’s an idea that most of us know but don’t like to think much about. It’s probably why this episode became such a cult hit. It strikes something primal: None of us can survive alone. And yet, many of us seem so eager to wipe each other off the face of the planet.

There’s a new article out in Science about paramedic mice. Yes, mice have regions in their brains that drive them to help other mice when they’re injured or unconscious. This basic drive to help is wired into many species, including primates. A broken femur can teach you a lot about humanity. That’s how many anthropologists and archaeologists define civilization. It wasn’t just relics of tool use or fire. It was the ability, and the will, to take care of someone when they were down. Civilization started when we stopped leaving each other for dead.

It’s not enough to prep for yourself.

You have to prep for others.