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5 Basic Needs


The Little Guy

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you don't technically need shelter or clothing to survive.  Kind of depends on where you are living...

 

TFG: how exactly does 'survival' fall under "basic needs for survival"? That makes no sense, and the rest of your list is not necessary for survival... I think you are confusing survival with living and when I say living I think you are confusing being alive on a physical level vs. a mental/emotional level (want vs. needs).

 

I'd say food, water and air.  Unless you want to get technical and throw on temperature range, pressure, etc...  but it kind of depends on where you are and what kind of stuff is available, as to what you *need* to survive.  If you are in a cold area, you're going to have to have some kind of source of warmth to survive.  If the only thing around is animals, you will probably need supplies to kill and cook the animals to survive.  Even if you caught and killed them with your bare hands, really good possibility of dying from bacteria/disease if animal isn't cleaned/cooked. 

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you don't technically need shelter or clothing to survive.  Kind of depends on where you are living...

 

TFG: how exactly does 'survival' fall under "basic needs for survival"? That makes no sense, and the rest of your list is not necessary for survival... I think you are confusing survival with living and when I say living I think you are confusing being alive on a physical level vs. a mental/emotional level (want vs. needs).

 

I'd say food, water and air.  Unless you want to get technical and throw on temperature range, pressure, etc...  but it kind of depends on where you are and what kind of stuff is available, as to what you *need* to survive.  If you are in a cold area, you're going to have to have some kind of source of warmth to survive.  If the only thing around is animals, you will probably need supplies to kill and cook the animals to survive.  Even if you caught and killed them with your bare hands, really good possibility of dying from bacteria/disease if animal isn't cleaned/cooked. 

 

These are supposed to be very broad, and shouldn't matter what the climate is (Sorry didn't mention that).

 

My sister says "Fire" is the fifth one, but I don't know if that is really a "Need" in order to stay alive (in any condition).

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again, you need specific things for specific situations.  you say *any* condition. Well what if you got hurled into outer space? What if you are living in antarctica vs. africa?  What you would need to survive depends on the situation. 

 

You have clothes and shelter on your list.  In some situations, you might need them.  If you are looking for being broad, then those shouldn't be on your list.  Neither should fire.  You can live your life eating fruits and veggies.  What do you need fire for?

 

You need water.  Without water, your body ceases to function.  You need food.  Without food, your body ceases to function.  You need air.  Without air, your body ceases to function. The temperature has to be within a certain range or else you freeze or fry.  The pressure being exerted on your body needs to be a certain range, or you implode or explode. 

 

Anything else is circumstantial; dependent on where exactly you're trying to survive.  If you had fire, you could live in colder climates, etc...

 

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You NEED shelter

 

Rain Forest: get out of storms

Desert: get out of sand storms / Heat

Arctic: get out of freezing wind

Africa (not sure what the terrain is): get out of heat

 

A shelter could be:

- Tree / Bush

- Rock

- Cave

- Home

- Igloo

- Hut

- etc.

 

I guess "Fire" could be changed to "Warmth".

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yeah, you need shelter for those specific areas and situations.  But you wanted to be general.  There are plenty of places where the temperature is good all the time and even if it rains...not like you're going to melt..plenty of place you can live out in the open no problem. So I'm still scratching shelter off the list of general needs, and adding it to the list of circumstantial needs.

 

Same with fire, even disguised as "warmth." if the temperature is already warm enough, you do not need fire/warmth.  If the temperature is hot (like in several of your scenarios), you would actually want the opposite of warmth.  So again I scratch that off.

 

Food

Water

Air

 

I would tentatively add sleep to the list.  I guess it depends on your perspective on that.  If you try to stay awake, you'll eventually exhaust yourself and pass out.  I'm not sure if I would technically classify this is a necessary item though.  You can voluntarily not eat and eventually starve yourself to death.  But you can't really stay awake until you die.  I don't think that's possible. 

 

But I guess if we're going to buy this argument, then we may as well scratch air off the list as well.  You can hold your breath until you pass out but your body automatically starts breathing at that point.  Can't do nothing about that.  So let's scratch air off the list.

 

Food and Water.  Only two physical necessities.  Everything else is dependent on where it is you're trying to survive.

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You don't NEED shelter and warmth though.  You are not a cold-blooded creature.  If the temperature is already right then you do not need those outside sources to artificially keep it warm.  And again, protection from mother nature/place to keep cool is circumstantial.  There are plenty of places in this world where the temperature is just right and you can sleep under the stars. 

 

And on the note of sleep... okay I decided you do need sleep, but not to physically live.  Sleep is a certain level/state of being alive.  As in, verses being active.  So you need it to be more active/conscious, but you are alive nonetheless. So that's definitely scratched from the list.

 

I have determined that in order for your body to physically live, you need:

 

Water5732437613

Air

Food

Temperature to be within x and y range

Pressure to be within x and y range

 

Or we could just throw you, CV, out and you pick you up in a few weeks and you can tell us what you needed. :D

 

Hey I watch survivorman.  I could do it.

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The one, most important thing that is needed to survive. Which I did not see listed anywhere is knowledge.

 

If you have no knowledge of a land and do not know what is edible, then well your chances of surviving are slim. If you have no knowledge of how to build a fire or purify water, your chances of surviving are slim. If you have no knowledge of how to catch food to eat, you probably will not survive.

 

Ultimately, if you ask me, the only "need" you need to know to survive is knowledge. Knowing how to start that fire, how to find water, what to eat, where to seek shelter, how to build a shelter are all key without it you are lost without a hope to survive.

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I guess it all depends.  Of course you need food and water.  But if it's a good temperature range where you're living, then you don't need that factor.  Same with clothes, if it's warm enough where I don't need clothes, then I would rather have something else.  So, in order to accurately answer this question, I guess you would have to know what the circumstances are. 

 

This is unfair:

 

Ultimately, if you ask me, the only "need" you need to know to survive is knowledge.

 

I agree because then you could, "make", "find", or "figure" out anything on the list.  Maybe tangibles only?

 

 

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So, in order to accurately answer this question, I guess you would have to know what the circumstances are. 

 

Like I said previously, the 5 Basic needs should be needs no matter where you are, or what the climate...

 

The one, most important thing that is needed to survive. Which I did not see listed anywhere is knowledge.

 

Back in cave man days, all they had was an instinct.

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Masterace, then you can pretty much say everything is nesscary. Well, air needs to be this x to y in percentage of air, blood needs to be oxygenated, kidneys need to work, skin needs to be intact, lungs need to be inflated, etc. etc.

 

Some things are assumed working otherwise you could not live at all.

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