Battlestar Galactica: Lost World of the Gods

[clearspira]

It would require extreme fascist measures to repopulate from such a small pool of humans. BSG Reboot gave us an abortion ban - which would be the bare minimum. But personally i'm thinking a complete reversal of women's rights. Barefoot and pregnant baby factories whilst only the men dare risk anything away from the safety of the ship/colony. Merely having one child occasionally here and there ain't going to cut it.

Every woman of breeding age in such a world would be worth their weight in gold. Most of real world history due to mass war, disease and famine needed women to pump out six kids in the barest hope of keeping one alive. True, the futuristic medical tech of BSG does change things somewhat... for now. But without resupplies or a manufacturing base that is soon going to end.

Annnnnnd that brings us onto the BSG Reboot final episode where they all decide to become cavemen...

[Frustration]

Fascist measures? No. I think you misunderstand what that word means.

Most of real world history due to mass war, disease and famine needed women to pump out six kids in the barest hope of keeping one alive.

Well... no. Population increased slowly for most of history, but it did increase - despite deaths due to disease and war, too. So while population may have decreased in small regions for brief times, each woman on average had more than two children that survived.

[Madner Kami]

Humanity survived such a genetic bottleneck in the past, with possibly as few as 3000 surviving individuals and we certainly didn't march in lockstep at the time or instituted strict breeding regimes.

[Fianna]

You're assuming anyone cares about ensuring humanity's genetic diversity. The harmful results of inbreeding wouldn't occur for several generations, while the current generation is busy trying to not get killed on a weekly basis. If they survive long enough that a lack of genetic diversity becomes an issue, they'd probably consider it a win.

Besides, remember that their long term goal is to hook up with the 13th colony on Earth. The whole premise of their journey is that they're hopefully not all that's left of the human race.

[Mickey_Rat15]

You're assuming anyone cares about ensuring humanity's genetic diversity. The harmful results of inbreeding wouldn't occur for several generations, while the current generation is busy trying to not get killed on a weekly basis. If they survive long enough that a lack of genetic diversity becomes an issue, they'd probably consider it a win.

Besides, remember that their long term goal is to hook up with the 13th colony on Earth. The whole premise of their journey is that they're hopefully not all that's left of the human race.

They do not know the 13th tribe survived and have no idea how long it will take to find Earth. If you accept Galactica 1980 as canon, it takes around 15 to 20 years to get to Earth.

Genetic diversity is something that what is left of the Colonial scientific community would be bringing up to Adama and the Quorum.

[Mickey_Rat15]

Humanity survived such a genetic bottleneck in the past, with possibly as few as 3000 surviving individuals and we certainly didn't march in lockstep at the time or instituted strict breeding regimes.

At that point, we talking about humans who's societal structure is probably more like chimps or gorilla troops. I am fairly certain sexual politics were not terribly enlightened compared to the 21st century. probably not terribly enlightened compared to Roman Republican standards.

[Madner Kami]

Humanity survived such a genetic bottleneck in the past, with possibly as few as 3000 surviving individuals and we certainly didn't march in lockstep at the time or instituted strict breeding regimes.

At that point, we talking about humans who's societal structure is probably more like chimps or gorilla troops. I am fairly certain sexual politics were not terribly enlightened compared to the 21st century. probably not terribly enlightened compared to Roman Republican standards.

That happened 50,000 to 100,000 years ago.

[Riedquat]

Humanity survived such a genetic bottleneck in the past, with possibly as few as 3000 surviving individuals and we certainly didn't march in lockstep at the time or instituted strict breeding regimes.

Who knows what we did at the time? It's entirely possible that the men at the time kept very rigid control over the women (quite possibly a few tribal bigwigs with harems that viewed them all as their posessions).

[TGLS]

Humanity survived such a genetic bottleneck in the past, with possibly as few as 3000 surviving individuals and we certainly didn't march in lockstep at the time or instituted strict breeding regimes.

Who knows what we did at the time? It's entirely possible that the men at the time kept very rigid control over the women (quite possibly a few tribal bigwigs with harems that viewed them all as their posessions).

And if that were the case it would only mean more inbreeding not less. It was about 75 thousand years ago; the effects of inbreeding were at best poorly understood, people lived migratory lifestyles and there's very little evidence left behind. Harem behavior, monogamy and promiscuity are all equally plausible. Here's another thing to chew on; 3000 surviving individuals aren't all concentrated in one place, they were dispersed across Afro-Eurasia. Even a maximally exogamous strategy would likely lead to (at minimum) lots of cousin couplings.

Another population bottleneck in humans; studies have indicated that the indigenous peoples of the Americas descended from about 70 people who crossed the Beringia land bridge about 14,000 years ago. Given they were doing fine up until about five hundred years ago, the minimally viable population is pretty low.

[CrypticMirror]

Humanity survived such a genetic bottleneck in the past, with possibly as few as 3000 surviving individuals and we certainly didn't march in lockstep at the time or instituted strict breeding regimes.

Who knows what we did at the time? It's entirely possible that the men at the time kept very rigid control over the women (quite possibly a few tribal bigwigs with harems that viewed them all as their posessions).

And if that were the case it would only mean more inbreeding not less. It was about 75 thousand years ago; the effects of inbreeding were at best poorly understood, people lived migratory lifestyles and there's very little evidence left behind. Harem behavior, monogamy and promiscuity are all equally plausible. Here's another thing to chew on; 3000 surviving individuals aren't all concentrated in one place, they were dispersed across Afro-Eurasia. Even a maximally exogamous strategy would likely lead to (at minimum) lots of cousin couplings.

Another population bottleneck in humans; studies have indicated that the indigenous peoples of the Americas descended from about 70 people who crossed the Beringia land bridge about 14,000 years ago. Given they were doing fine up until about five hundred years ago, the minimally viable population is pretty low.

It is also about the background of those people. The more diverse the background of the individuals, the more genetic diversity is preserved. Seventy people from East Anglia is gonna be a much smaller genepool than seventy people pulled at random from... well, literally anywhere else. They've spent a long time restricting their genepool there. East Anglia, the land of three surnames. The region with a real family feel.