- prepping for a post-apocalyptic situation is NOT even REMOTELY the same as prepping for an unplanned Robinson Crusoe situation OR a planned colony situation, much less this sort of "tossed into the wilderness naked without a knife" nonsense. - the deep specialization required by modern academia is really fucking useless in a survival situation, but does not mean that academics _themselves_ are useless. - genuis is useful, and highly correlated to things like good appearance and athleticism, but also not the be-all, end-all; experience and a lack of neuroticism are also really important. - humans are extremely adaptable; our main challenges aren't environmental, it's ourselves. see also: the black jewels trilogy rant I have but have never recorded about how the blood have no meaningful threats to justify all their insane power and violence except ... each ... other. and draca and lorn don't act like warlord princes or queens so wtf is going on with the worldbuilding. anyway the point is the environment isn't the real threat; it's shitty leadership and factionalism.