Science, technology, engineering and math will save us


It's been over two years since I've had the rifle through the notes that've been written at the end of the world. Things were looking up, apparently. The Zombie Apocalypse didn't take as many lives as we thought, slowly dying out, but there has, since, been a resurgence of worry.

It seems some believe the end is way more nigh than anticipated. With books like George Orwell's "1984" and Margaret Atwell's "The Handmaid's Tale" hitting best-sellers lists again, it may be time to start taking more notes about what we need to do when the end comes.

So when it does, we'll be ready.

There's been a surge of interest in schools dealing with science, technology, engineering and math. The acronym for all four of these is called STEM. These are the careers that are a driving force right now. It entails a high amount of problem-solving. This is very important at the end of the world because when we stand at the end of the world, what we face is one. Large. Problem.

It's time for creative thinking because existence in a post-technological world is going to be very different than what our Pioneer ancestors dealt with. We'll have had that technology, so going back to what worked back when won't work going forward.

STEM is of ferocious importance, especially for someone like me. My mind is incapable of gadgets, technology, math and science. While engineers are in my family, I was not gifted with that type of thought. While I am a creative thinker, I will need to build up my know-how so I can be of assistance when it comes to building structures that will allow us to survive the harsh new reality that is the end of the world.

As modern sources of power dwindle, we'll need to engineer our way into a new normal. What will be the threats we'll have to protect ourselves from?

Harsh winters? Mutated animals? Harsh people? Mutated neighbors?

In order to live in this new gray wilderness, we'll need to use a combination of old ways, like drilling wells, with a mix of modern thought and conventions. That way of thinking, taught in STEM classes, must remain at the forefront of our new journey at the end of the world.

Analyzing a text won't help feed you when the sun goes down. Writing a paper about our founding fathers may help us understand political thought, but it won't keep us warm at night. Singing will keep our spirits high over the campfire at night, but it won't help keep infection away.

Understanding the science of things, how to engineer and work through processes, while using the math involved, and creating new technologies may give us a fighting chance.

Using five random things, with the help of science, basic technology and engineering, so we can MacGyver our way through a problem -- that is what will save us.

We just ran out of our last match to start a fire? Don't worry -- we can use these five things!

We've run out of proteins. It's time to hunt, let's build a trap that will catch a large buck deer. We'll need to know the speed at which the buck runs, its estimated weight, and apply that to the math it will take to build the trap.

We're how far from the river?

What's the best way to transport water without exhausting ourselves and our animals?

STEM will know, and it will help build and create new energies and alternative sources of power so we can still exist at the end of the world.

Because the world may have ended, but that doesn't mean we have to.