Would you rather…?

[Zagaroth]

Modern alternative reality, assuming that I absolutely have to do either one of these, because they both sound like hell.

I'll take 3 years of slightly worse hell and be back home please.

Look, with specific training and knowledge, surviving in any reasonable biome on Earth is not terribly hard. Meat is a bonus, focus on wild plants. Need to arrange proper shelter for those with harsh seasons. Hell, with no other homo genus, 99% of possible diseases (other than infections) are not a concern any more. And if we are isolated for long enough to complete this training, then we probably won't be taking much with us that can cause problems so long as we handle sanitation properly.

Hunker down, focus on doing things right, five people getting shelter arranged and food gathered. Rotating duties, with one of the duties being to always have someone at the shelter. Who ever is not staying at the shelter, they travel in pairs. Get some fire going, make fire-hardened spear tips, and we can go hunting if needed. Carefully; there's only five of us, no need to go after really big game, but we can also always be opportunistic.

After 3 years of having to shit in the woods, we'll be back to civilization. This is doable, and a nice focused goal to keep us on track.

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For scenario 1: Those two thousand people are not going to establish an iron age. Smelting is fucking hard. It's not just the tools and knowledge, it's the infrastructure. The people doing all the work to establish an iron age society are not contributing to food or shelter, and that is not good in that situation.

It's going to take several years to break enough land into farmable shape to regularly produce crops to feed everyone. In the mean time, everyone not farming needs to be gathering and hunting to feed the farmers, so that the farmers can eventually feed everyone else.

Also, 2k is cutting it tight on the genetic lottery. With perfectly accurate record keeping, pre-selecting mates, and a wide enough gene pool, 1k is around the hypothetical minimum for a healthy gene pool. 10k is much better odds for a more likely scenario of normal record keeping/breeding , because humans suck at that.

Oh, and given the lack of modern medical infrastructure, every pregnancy has at least a 1% fatality rate for the woman, and keeping babies alive is very hard. Modern society is generally at 0.1% or below for maternal fatalities.

Frankly, I think that the 2k people are on their way to extinction in that world.

 

[CinnaSloth]

Me: *waking up to the tyranno walking through my vegetable garden.
"Those are my bloody mushroom, mate!"

 

[AmiRose]

This question requires some set up.
Assume some entity tasks earth with finding and training 2,000 people to best survive two scenario. You will be chosen and trained for one of them.

Scenario 1:
Every one selected in this scenario will get 1 month of training, and will not be coming back. You will be transported together into the Jurassic. Any animal larger than a house cat in this scenario will be starting hostile. You and a thousand people equipped with what they can carry, + enough seeds to feed your population if properly planted and taken care of, are to be teleported to the Jurassic era together in a place suited for whatever seeds you chose. You collectively are able to bring enough books to establish a long term Iron Age society given you are able to act on it, as well as books on modern medical knowledge. Enough food to last your group a month if properly rationed, gallon of fresh water for every person, 25 rifles and a hundred rounds each, 250 handguns with a hundred rounds each, 5 big game rifles with 20 rounds each, 3 anti material rifles with 10 rounds each. 12 fishing rods + proper fishing equipment. A shovel, spade and hoe for every person. Every person also is carrying a hatchet, utility knife, hammer and 500 nails, fire starter and kindling, a pan, 3 changes of durable and environmentally relevant clothing, as well as a backpack. Some people also brought extra things they thought might be useful, be that for their expedition.

Scenario 2:
Everyone selected will be split up into groups of 5 and given relevant training. They are to survive in an alternate Earth with no homo genus, for 3 years before being transported back. They will get no equipment outside of a week of food and water, a utility knife, and the clothes they are wearing. Each group will be transported to a designated area known beforehand. So that they can get suitable survival training for the area chosen, such as knowing the edible plants, important resources, animals, water sources, etc. as well as survivalist, group training, medical, and tool/building construction knowledge. However how relevant some of this knowledge will be is questionable sense changes in species and environments due to human activity will not have happened.

So then which do you choose? Why? What do you expect to happen? What are your general thoughts on the scenarios? IMO, I would die in the first months of either scenario, but the modern alternative reality gives me better chances.

I'm gonna be one of the weirdos and stick wit Jurassic.
Always thought it'd be fun ta visit the park wit some friends, so this'll be even better.