Many of you have seen the TV show Survivor .   .  .

Though it seems to have run its course now, the concept behind this “reality” TV show is brilliant.  It piques both the complexity and curiosity of humanity by touching on such elements as social interaction, the innate drive to survive,  competitiveness, “pecking order, ” gender roles, even sexuality.

But as we all know, Survivor is not genuine survival. . .even Man vs. Wild is not genuine survival either.  Both of these shows touch on the critical elements of survival but when you boil it down, both of these shows have paramedics and other professionals ready to come to the rescue at a moments notice.  Genuine reality, life that is, is not quite as kind.

Yet sometimes there are extraordinary stories of actual survival.  The bleakest of conditions for any human being, and for whatever reason(s), people are able to withstand them long enough to avoid peril.

Such is just the case when two Myanmar fishermen were rescued off of Australia’s north coast not long ago (video available in linked article).

The scenario? Escaping their sinking ship which presumably killed the other shipmates, spending twenty-five days at sea in shark-infested waters, all while floating in an over-sized ice-box.  They managed to survive because they were able to capture rain water and eat some of the fish that were left in the ice box (sushi anyone?).

The total rain water caught: 4 pints (for Americans, you can compare that to just a little less than a 2 liter bottle)!  That’s 4 pints for two men for twenty-five days, and according to experts they said the men were lucky to have even gotten that much rain!

So how about that for a challenge for your next group of castaways Jeff Probst?

After all, “Survivor” is reality television. . .

-  IgniteTheMind

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