If you were stranded on a mountain, what would you do?
By daeckardt
@daeckardt (6237)
United States
July 11, 2009 4:15pm CST
I brought up a question the other night about a movie I had watched yesterday. I got one response and that led me to want to ask this question. I will set up the scenario the movie was based on.
You are flying through the Andes with your teammates and family and friends. Your plane goes down and some of them are killed, but you somehow survived. You have no food and no contact with the outside world. You find a radio and hear on it that they have called out the search. What would you do?
In this movie (Alive), they decide to eat their dead friends so that they can stay alive so that they may have the strength to hike out to bring help. It took them over two months to get to that point, but they did eventually get rescued. My question to you is:
Would you eat the dead? Why or why not?
I will give my answer first. I would be the first to tell them that if I were dead that they could eat me so they could stay alive. I might feel uncomfortable eating my friends, but when you are in desperate situations you have to take desperate measures. Once the body is dead, it is just a piece of meat. If you look at it like that, it is possible to do it. I wouldn't kill a living person in order to eat them, but if they are already dead...
1 person likes this
7 responses
@KrauseHome (36448)
• United States
12 Jul 11
There is no way that I could do something like this. Actually I would probably be Praying, and Trusting God somehow that somehow someone or something would find me that would send a signal to the searchers that I am out there, and alive and somehow bring them to me. I would be searching for berries, etc. for Food and anything that I could do. To eat the body like this just sounds discusting.
1 person likes this
@daeckardt (6237)
• United States
17 Jul 11
I'm not sure that there would have been any berries at the time of the crash because the mountain was frozen. I guess they had been living on a few things that were in the plane when it crashed, but in the end they had a choice to eat or starve. I think there were people who wouldn't eat, but I don't really remember. I think I might have tried to hike out if I could find enough warm clothing. Thanks for the response.
@Biomechanoid (2923)
• Estonia
12 Jul 09
I can't tell you what I would be doing then. I just don't know how would I behave in such critical situation, who knows, maybe I just break down and kill myself, maybe I'll eat my mates or survive without eating them. Human can survive for 30 days without food, maybe I would find something to eat when I reach lower altitudes. It all depends on situation.
1 person likes this
@daeckardt (6237)
• United States
12 Jul 09
I agree that you never know. Will it ever happen? Who knows. I just hope that I never have the opportunity to find out. Thanks for the response.
@mrakobesie (1246)
• United States
11 Jul 09
i lived very close to the mountains and learned what grows there that can be eaten. i also learned to identify foods that can be eaten without ever seeing them before. so i wouldn't eat my friends, i'd find food there instead. it's harder when there is snow in the mountains, but even then there is some food under the snow and in the caves. i'd start going down the mountain because there is more food at the base and within a day or two i'd most likely find good source of food.
1 person likes this
@daeckardt (6237)
• United States
12 Jul 09
I don't think I would go for that part. Not much to it. When they showed the first slice of meat, it was coming from the glutes.
@tuckersheri (1327)
• United States
12 Jul 09
I would seach for what food I could find and try to get down the moutain to safety as quickly as possible. I would look for any other forms of human life and hopefully find some kind of survival tools. I would try too find rocks and sticks and tried to start a fire for food I found. I would do just about anything to survive.
@daeckardt (6237)
• United States
12 Jul 09
That is what the people in this movie did. But there were no animals on the mountain top above the tree line where their plane crashed. The were able to start occasional fires, but it meant that they had to burn old clothes or other debris from the crashed plane. The only tools they had were what they had from the plane. Thanks for the post.
@Vsecretlove (6)
• United States
12 Jul 09
If I was stranded on a mountain, I would have peace of mind and just try to relax. I haven't had a vacation in years to myself . I have been working so hard.
1 person likes this
@daeckardt (6237)
• United States
12 Jul 09
In this instance, you have no shelter except the fuselage of the crashed plane and no protection from sub-freezing temperatures and no food. I like the idea of relaxing, but are you saying that you would just die? Thanks for the post.
@emmasmomma89 (266)
• United States
11 Jul 09
If i were stranded on a mountain, i would probably try and see if there was anything else to eat before i started eating people. I dont think i would be able to live with myself if i got out alive and your friends at home were like "wow how did you survive?" and youre like "oh i just ate george" i would feel so awkward! and if youre on a mountain there has to be a way down for one, and maybe some animals or plants up there somewhere to keep you going. And not to mention would you be able to last that long because do you have any water? my doctor said as long as you stay hydrated you should be good for a while. id assume if youre that high up maybe theres some snow or something you could melt. But i just dont think i could eat my friends. It would be too wierd. and then you would die and be in line for heaven, and god would be like "oh, so you ate george? yeah, youre going to hell" haha, i dont know. i just couldnt do it.
@daeckardt (6237)
• United States
11 Jul 09
You don't have to worry about water when you are in the Andes because it is always covered with snow. As far as the line for heaven, I think they would take the situation into consideration, but I don't know. Like I said before, I would be uncomfortable with doing that, but after a week or two with no food, I think I would give in. I respect your opinion on this. Not everyone in the movie was willing to do it either and those that didn't did eventually die. Thanks for your response.
