For a society that is so connection dependent, what would you do in the event of a massive EMP?

Question

amne · Accepted Answer

I've two sets of friends, both with well established gardens full of produce, some animals for meat/wool/leather and sizable portions of land. I'd gather up tools and supplies etc, steal a horse and saddle from down the road and move on up to one of their places. I say i'd use horse because fuel is going to run out one day as society collapses. I would have a hard time choosing which friends place to go, all though I think it would be the one who lives with very limited power now (a 12V system for lighting and a petrol generator to run the washing machine), lives really far and out of the way, (so no one finds and bothers you), she has the knowledge of bushcraft and survival skills and lastly, she has hot daughters. TL DR World collapses, I move to a remote friends place because of her hot daughters.

Zebulen · Answer

"I'd put down my xbox controller light a fire and use smoke signals to attract other dungeons and dragons players. we'd use candles and my skill focus (survival) would see us through to the great "flipping the switch back to on" "

TOYA · Answer

If it's a quickly fixed EMP, read a couple of books..  If the EMP would last long I'd expect groups and or governments to take care of food and water supplies while I read my books.

Winston · Answer

I would pretend it was the zombie apocalypse and flee heavily civilized areas and have an extended camping trip but on the constant look out for the undead coming to try to eat mah brains.

Aili · Answer

I would laugh

Susanne Hoch · Answer

Smoke signals. And pigeons. Lots of pigeons. Then profit from the carrier pigeon trade.

Ratiba · Answer

Mow my yard, shore up my sagging floor joists, clean my counters, take a bike ride, bathe my dogs again, try to screw my neighbor.

ESTEFANA · Answer

crack each other's heads open and feast on the goo inside

Weidar · Answer

As long as the tap water is working, and I have my acoustic guitar handy, I'd be okay.

Averyl · Answer

probably jerk one off, be confused for a little bit... then try and eat, something... be confused more then pass out somewhere like my couch or something

jelena · Answer

I'd read and draw more.

Sandra Schroder · Answer

I would get my ass down to the nearest recruiting center because having the EVERYTHING knocked out in my city would be something worthy of joining the military.  (I would join to help in the rebuilding/restabilizing of the city, not to go fight anyone)

Randene · Answer

i would connect my bicycle to a record player

Tanja Kunze · Answer

Light some incense.

Quinton · Answer

Grab my guitar, and walk down the street while playing Radiohead.

Bab · Answer

I would steal a bunch of stuff from an electronic store.... oh... never mind, actually.

LASHON · Answer

Pretty much just read more and go outside/workout more than I already do.

Casey · Answer

Keep hitting F5 until something happens our I pass out

Elsie · Answer

I'd just play playstation 3 offline...oh wait. I'd just kill myself.

CALANDRA · Answer

I looked on Wikipedia, but seem to be failing at learning about EMP (and losing interest :P). Does it destroy equipment's ability to work? Ever? What about my bicycle dynamo? Laptop? Batteries?

Kiley · Answer

Southpark episode.

ALETHA · Answer

I CAN FINALLY TAKE A SHIT! Skter skter skter PLPLPLPLP- BLLOOP~ OH GOD!

Nicole Peters · Answer

DOWNLOAD ENTIRE REDDIT! That'll keep me busy until the internet comes back on...

Arita · Answer

I'd go hang out with my friends. Connection dependency solved.

Maria-Helena · Answer

Eat my neighbors.

Ksenija · Answer

Lock down the house load my guns.

Lisa Beike · Answer

I've been contenplating building a Faraday cage/crate to store a old laptop, cellphone and wireless network gear.

Orazio · Answer

Read a book.

Souhad · Answer

continue reading my book.

Conchita · Answer

a lot of reloading

Forest · Answer

I would cry. EDIT: About a week ago I sold my computer and I just now got a new one. I went a week without computing and it actually wasn't bad. I got to hang out with friends and read A Game of Thrones.

Nikos · Answer

go to a library, and engage in hand to hand combat with random strangers.

Kirsi-Leena · Answer

Press F5 repeatedly.

Moll · Answer

Take over Tom Cruise's alien apocalypse bunker.

Leonie Reinhard · Answer

Get out the pistol and hunting knife, then have some fun.

Horst · Answer

Go through all the Trivial Pursuit questions and answers to satisfy my need to learn pointless facts that will sometimes be relevant to a conversation.

Saila · Answer

Beer, pot, lawnchair.

Effie · Answer

I'd go to reddit in candle light.

nour · Answer

Stock up on canned/packaged goods (read: 3 months worth) at the local grocery store and pick up vegetable and plant seeds while I was there. Carry on life as normal without reddit.

Ailee · Answer

Hope that Sam Fisher gets to it first.

Reidunn · Answer

I would go on reddit- hmm. Send an e-mail to my- hmm. Download something to watch- hmm. Watch something on my computer- hmm. Watch tv- nope. Read a book on my kindle- nope. Call some people to come over- still no. Probably read a book, drink a bit, and get to know my neighbors.

KELI · Answer

This is why I merge with Helios instead

Lyndell · Answer

F5

Delnaz · Answer

Move to Seattle and become a bicycle messenger.

Leah Herzog · Answer

Productivity soars, the economy recovers, and society returns as people are forced to interact in person.

Riccardo · Answer

I'm not Protoss. EMP doesn't scare me.

Lena Holzman · Answer

I would post on reddit: Hey anyone else see the EMP thing? Please upvote me for stating the obvious like every other front page post. Am I doing it right?

Valentine · Answer

One Second After by William R. Forstchen is probably the scariest book I have ever read just because there's a chance something like that could actually happen. I would highly recommend this book to anyone, as it's a great read (the audio book is well read too). Basically it explores what would happen if 3 EMP bombs were detonated over America, wiping out every electronic device in the country. The results are not pretty.

LESSIE · Answer

An EMP would crash our economy

Julia Schwarz · Answer

Dermal Armor - EMP Shielding. I shrug it off.

Milena · Answer

Considering the fact that an EMP can only burnout circuits that are on, not everything will be burnt. But until the power comes back, I will use the 10 years of training I picked up in the boy scouts:  I'm grilling hamburgers.

Tinka · Answer

As soon as I realized it was a widespread EMP (electronics dead, all nearby radio broadcasters knocked out) I would probably try bicycling my way home, 2000 miles away. The vast majority of my skills are in programming and electronics, so I'd hope that it wasn't global.

Quintilla · Answer

I'd put a ziplock bag around my gameboy and play it in the shower. Wait, shit...

Martina Frankfurter · Answer

Drink beer, read books and enjoy the fact I don't have to listen to a voicemail from somebody asking me why I didn't pick up. Same thing I do every day. Nobody calls. :'(

Bertha · Answer

Browse Reddi... Oh. Shit. Probably sit bashing F5 until I got hungry and try to microwave some food. Then starve.

Terja · Answer

Grab the shotgun out of my closet and get ready for the shit that'd be going down.

Mari-Anne · Answer

Go and introduce myself to the neighbours.

Xheneta · Answer

I'd probably walk around town shoving pictures in people's faces while shouting 'DO YOU LIKE THIS?! DO YOU!?'

mirsada · Answer

I would hurry down to the nearest used book store and buy up all the vintage porn mags. Then I would wait two months and sell the porns slowly at a 5000% markup. Eventually I would become the Avon Barksdale of vintage porn mags. Good times.

Gabriele Vogler · Answer

"This has actually been an ongoing conversation with me and my friends. We're all in tech fieldz, and also big zombie apocalypse fanboys. One night over drinks, the question "BOOM. The whole infrastructure is gone. What do you bring to the table?" We all decided to learn a valuable trait outside of our comfort zone. Take me: I am a network admin...THAT CAN PACK HIS OWN BULLETS. We've also got an IT guy/fisherman, an electrician/sharpshooter, a assembly tech/Mason, and computer engineer/dental student. Everybody should learn something awesome and barterable. You know...just in case. "

Albane · Answer

Have you read the book 'One Second After'? I was an Infantryman for 5 years, and this book scared me more than anything else. One EMP device, detonated in space above the US, everything stops. Cars, trucks, hospitals, generators, everything. Might as well kiss your ass goodbye.

Andrea Oster · Answer

I think people aren't realizing the severity of losing power completely. Things like stoves, dishwashers, washing machines, the news, utilities (would water go? I feel like its regulated by electronics), ways to contact friends and family, cars (and by extension shopping for many in America), quick response 911 services, the list goes on.

FREEDA · Answer

I'd get Ramirez to go on top of Whiskey Hotel with a green flare and wave it around.

mikkeline · Answer

Two chicks at the same time.

Lianne · Answer

I would find a gun and put a bullet through my skull. I panic really easily.

Ann Caroline · Answer

I have several tube based shortwave HAM radios, and a GOTA 40m and 20m dipole. Right after an EMP I would be busy getting those up and running connected to one of several lead acid batteries I've got.  After that, if my two wind turbines were damaged I would begin rewinding those for power production. I have a years worth of food from my garden canned almost (a few more weeks) next is apples for Apple Sauce and apple cider... but I'd be sitting pretty. So I'd fire up the 40m morse code, smoke a blunt, and watch the world burn.

Viive · Answer

Go outside and finally see a giant ball of fire (aka the sun) after awhile of not seeing it.

For a society that is so connection dependent, what would you do in the event of a massive EMP?

JamesWilson

Alexi

Catlaina

Dulciana

Endora

Karita

Collin

Gerhard

Wilburn

Yale