What is the perfect environment for a human?

[RamblingOnwards]

What environment would facilitate the most healthy/most productive human?

My knowledge is pretty google-esque, but here are my thoughts.

Water - we need it a minimum of once every two days. [It is possible to drink enough water to kill yourself, but generally] consuming more liquid than you need to is not harmful. Therefore constant unlimited supply of water.

Food - we need to eat a minimum of once a week. Consuming more food than neccesary is harmful. It is better to eat some foods more often than others. Therefore, constant, limited supply of greenstuff, and an intermittent, limited supply of meat stuff.

Exercise - too little is very bad for you. Constant high intensity is bad for you. Therefore, required constant low impact, intermitttent required high impact.

Stress - too little is bad, too much is worse. We need regular periods of low stress to sleep and relax. Therefore, short, well-defined periods of high stress, with low stress as the norm.

Okay so beyond the obvious 'hunter-gatherer', what does this leave us with?

 

[Operaider]

Religion - to instill fear in the masses inorder to gain control of the populace.

Just kidding, I figured I'd add that so 1 in C and Jaw gw don't need to

 

[Anathema]

I think Hawaii was settled for exactly the reasons you stated. It is now beyond its natural carrying capacity, but was nearly ideal human habitat when still within its means.

It has very moderate temperature ranges, while still allowing just enough "season" to break things up. Fresh water galore. Enough land mass to sustain populations of wild edible animals. Seafood. A lot of diversity in terrain to provide some exercise. Surfing to keep you from getting too stressed out, dude

So, knock down the hotels, run off 2/3 of the population, and Hawaii becomes the optimum human "Habitrail".

 

[RebeccaBradley]

We'd need to include other people, if only as sources of play, gossip and entertainment. (Oh yeah, and sex.) Boredom is not healthy.

 

[Operaider]

We'd need to include other people, if only as sources of play, gossip and entertainment. (Oh yeah, and sex.) Boredom is not healthy.

True, hard to be "productive" with out reproducing.

 

[Rob Lister]

I think something is missing.

Question: What is the perfect environment for a human?

Counter-Question: Perfect for what?

Survival of a single individual? Group?

Happiness of a single individual? Group?

Health? I/G?

Preference? I/G?

Strength? I/G?

None of these are necessarily polar opposites of any other but neither are they necessarily the same.

 

[Anathema]

There is also room for expansion of the topic to include "society".

RO, are you looking for expanded discussion what might facilitate the most healthy/productive society? "Hunter-gatherer" seems to imply a societal type, but the environmental factors you listed seem pretty well confined to physical habitat.

 

[Operaider]

I think something is missing.

Question: What is the perfect environment for a human?

Counter-Question: Perfect for what?

Survival of a single individual? Group?

Happiness of a single individual? Group?

Health? I/G?

Preference? I/G?

Strength? I/G?

None of these are necessarily polar opposites of any other but neither are they necessarily the same.

I think it would have to be the survival and happiness of a group. It seems to me that man is a social creature by nature, and would need others like him in order to be happy. Which to me is the definition of a healthy productive human. Even if you have all the things necessary for life, I don't think you'd be productive or healthy if you were miserable.

But, that's just because I have no God and that's how I rate a successful life. By how much you enjoy it. If I were religious, I'm sure bible would be at the top of my list. Since the goal of their lives is to be worthy of an afterlife.

 

[RamblingOnwards]

Okay, so include entertainment and companionship on the list. Of course, now we're into trade-off territory. More people would mean more stress, and so on.

Things we will seek out even if it is inconvenient:
Food
Entertainment

Things we need but may not seek out:
Compainionship

Things we need but tend to avoid:
Exercise

So a solution would be entertainment and food that requires exercise and provided companionship - surfing, dancing, communal meals, etc.

I'm trying to determine which environment makes it easy for a human to be healthy mentally and physically. n a perfect world, we would desire exactly the things that are good for us. However, our impulses no longer match onto a world were rich foods are easily available and execise is not a neccessity.

 

[Operaider]

So a solution would be entertainment and food that requires exercise and provided companionship

sounds like hunting would cover all those requirements

 

[Rob Lister]

Okay, so include entertainment and companionship on the list. Of course, now we're into trade-off territory. More people would mean more stress, and so on.

Things we will seek out even if it is inconvenient:
Food
Entertainment

Things we need but may not seek out:
Compainionship

Things we need but tend to avoid:
Exercise

So a solution would be entertainment and food that requires exercise and provided companionship - surfing, dancing, communal meals, etc.

I'm trying to determine which environment makes it easy for a human to be healthy mentally and physically. n a perfect world, we would desire exactly the things that are good for us. However, our impulses no longer match onto a world were rich foods are easily available and execise is not a neccessity.

All true I guess. We need a certain degree of challenge and risk in order to prosper. Does history confirm this? Who has faired better -- colder/warmer places? Is being able to run around naked less perfect in the long run than needing clothes?

 

[Operaider]

The big problem with this is that it's entirely impossible to be objective when rating what would constitute a successful civilization. Every civilization prizes different things. So first you'd have to determine what type of civilization is the best, and then what is needed to create that environment.

This is of course assuming that we are talking about a civilization and not a lone person. I think the values would change drastically between the two.

P.S. I’ve been up all night debating stuff with 1 in C, I don’t think I have the intelligence left in me to be much help in this

 

[farmermike]

All true I guess. We need a certain degree of challenge and risk in order to prosper. Does history confirm this? Who has faired better -- colder/warmer places? Is being able to run around naked less perfect in the long run than needing clothes?

You don't have to go any further than government funded north american indian reservations to see what happens when challenge and struggle are taken from the equation

 

[Rob Lister]

You don't have to go any further than government funded north american indian reservations to see what happens when challenge and struggle are taken from the equation

You do if you don't want it to be anecdotal.

 

[Operaider]

One thing that seems to work for uniting a civilization: a common enemy.(SEE: war on terrorism)

I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not. It promotes unity within the tribe, but can also produce splinter groups within the civilization that can divide the group.(SEE: Republican/Democrat)

Is it better to have peace or a common enemy?

 

[Kitty Chan]

But some people dont like challange and struggle they would rather others do it, they would rather sit around in the reproduction department.

What would you do with them?

 

[Rob Lister]

But some people dont like challange and struggle they would rather others do it, they would rather sit around in the reproduction department.

What would you do with them?

The answer, of course, is to exile them, or kill them, or ignore them, or assist them, or support them, or some combination of 1,3,4 or 5.

Still, I gotta go with 2 'cause I'm in a mood lately.

 

[Gulliamo]

Things we need but may not seek out:
Compainionship

With few exceptions, this is one item we WILL seek out even if inconvenient. In fact we will give up food, water, sleep (at least for a short time), security and money to ensure we have this. Read anything written by people who have been in "solitary confinement" for very long and you will see a universal theme of "this is the worse torture imaginable". Think of the risks that people have taken for the companionship of others…

 

[RamblingOnwards]

Read anything written by people who have been in "solitary confinement" for very long and you will see a universal theme of "this is the worse torture imaginable".

Yes, I'd forgotten about solitary confinement situations. I was thinking more about ltille old ladies who are dead for weeks before any one finds them, or computer-holics whose only social commuication outside the family is online.

That leaves a good argument to say that internet is less than ideal - it provides entertainment without exercise, and the 'all sugar no substance' of companionship.

WRT heat, in Europe the warm countries were much more productive into the middle of the first millenium, at which point the colder countries started taking over. Change in climate, change in farming methods, or sheer coincidence?

 

[Kitty Chan]

Ive always thought that if its a cold climate the people tend to work harder. Simply because when you live in the cold basic survival is harder. We dont live in the cold we survive the cold by figuring a way around shelter, transport etc.