The Left overs AKA How not to Math

[Ginger Tea]

I've not seen this show, I have seen or at least half listened to a recent advert on YouTube and was struck by how low the number was in their "Rapture" 140 million people, 2% of the world's population [from Wikipedia].

When I first heard of it I thought it would be more likely 20% left, it's not even 20% missing, it is meant to paint a picture of a bleak existence for those left behind and the world was meant to be falling apart, yes 140 Million is a large number, but 2% is so small, I wouldn't even notice that amount where I live, hell even at 1 in 5 it wouldn't affect me that much as all that would happen is one room would be vacant, but as we don't interact much as a house I never knew one guy was leaving till he had gone and the guy who moved in had been in a week by the time I first saw him.

Maybe its just me, I have limited outside interaction so I wouldn't loose anyone I knew or cared about here and 2% is just a co worker or two when I had a job.

But the advert I half listened to had a crisis council on TV talking about it, yes millions vanished globally, but I still feel for a rapture movie it should be the other way around, the people seen panicking and looting in clips I've seen would be more befitting a doomsday show where everyone knows there is no hope so they just stop living as a civilisation and just do whatever they want.

Had it been all children under X years old vanish and a fertility crisis because of it I could understand the dystopia and destruction, but its been done already (the lottery, children of man and Utopia).
EDIT:
Or even the flip side, ONLY people under X years old survived, that was done in an Australian show called Tribes or something, I saw a few episodes in the early 2000's.


Would society really crumble if it transpired the amount of people you knew missing could be counted on one hand? Yes it's different than 2% of the populous just dying at the same time as they do just outright vanish, that I would have affect me at some level, but unless one of those 2%ers were people I knew personally ...

Maybe I would have to watch the show to see if it's as doom and gloom as the clips portray, but from the little I know, it should be 20% left in the world for shit to really go to hell, even Y the last man managed to keep the world ticking for a few years with no new births due to there being only one male left alive.

[crashhelmet]

I watched the show and enjoyed it. I almost picked up the book it was based on, but was told it's more pulp-romance than drama or suspense.

2% seems like a small number, but in reality it isn't. Especially when that number is still in the millions. Hell, 1 in 5 is a lot, especially when you know that 1 out of the 5.

One character in the story loses her husband and both of her kids. Some families lost no one at all.

Whether or not this is "The Rapture" is still unknown. The Christians call it as a such, but those raptured don't match their belief structure for rapture.

People didn't go up into the sky in a blue light, a la This Is The End or Rapturepalooza. They just vanished in the blink of an eye.

[Kheldarson]

People didn't go up into the sky in a blue light, a la This Is The End or Rapturepalooza. They just vanished in the blink of an eye.

As a note (since I don't know the show you're talking about), according to Christians who believe in Rapture, there won't be any lights or going up to the sky. People would just be gone.

[wolfie]

Or even the flip side, ONLY people under X years old survived, that was done in an Australian show called Tribes or something, I saw a few episodes in the early 2000's.

I believe there was a Star Trek episode that dealt with the same subject.

[Ginger Tea]

I agree that if you know someone in that 2% it does affect you, but what I had seen clips wise you would think law and order had all but stopped and looting and rioting was just around the corner or already an every day fact of life.

As its random people from across the globe that percentage might mean I would never notice anyone missing in my city.

A whole city or country could be wiped out, loosing a whole populace would be more shocking than the guy next door not being there any more, more so if you never got to know the guy in the first place.

I didn't post this in Religion as although its a rapture-esque story line, its not the rapture part I have a beef with, its the fall out from such a small (though in millions) disappearance.

Those who do believe in the rapture might see it as a cause to go wild as they have been forsaken and the next part of end days are just around the corner, though I do recall once seeing this

What if the Rapture happened already and we just didn't notice it?

Another part of my hesitance to watch it, is it's (co?) written by Lindeloff and I am expecting it to go south or stupid, that or end up like a Stephen King TV movie where the first half is great then the 2nd part ends up utterly pointless (though I do enjoy Under the Dome and think it panned out better than how the wiki write up described the book).

The clips paint the world on the brink, for 2% I find that a bit much.

Should we loose 2% for real, shocking as it would be, I would be more shocked if society collapsed in on itself the way the adverts portray it.

98% gone damn right I will be freaking out, but unless everyone I know is in that 2%, I am just not buying the numbers the show used.

[Bloodsoul]

As a note (since I don't know the show you're talking about), according to Christians who believe in Rapture, there won't be any lights or going up to the sky. People would just be gone.

How would the Rapture affect conjoined twins if only one of the twins is pious?

[Jetfire]

2% seems like a small number, but in reality it isn't. Especially when that number is still in the millions. Hell, 1 in 5 is a lot, especially when you know that 1 out of the 5.

Just a correction, 2% is 2/100, or 1 in 50, not 1 in 5. So on average, 1 or 2 of your coworkers would disappear, or 2-4 people in a neighbourhood.

[BlaqueKatt]

world population loses around 1/2 of that EVERY YEAR. or 56 million. and society hasn't collapsed.

World Health Origination death stats

[crashhelmet]

Just a correction, 2% is 2/100, or 1 in 50, not 1 in 5. So on average, 1 or 2 of your coworkers would disappear, or 2-4 people in a neighbourhood.

I caught that. Ginger's comments about 20% and 1 in 5 got me bass ackwards when I was replying.

[Ginger Tea]

I knew that the yearly total of deaths was going to be high, but the deaths are staggered over a full year, not all in one second.

Plus you could then further break down the information into age and circumstances, people expect 90 year olds to pop off eventually.

[crashhelmet]

The reason for the perceived lawlessness in the show is due to groups of people that make it their sole purpose to try and make people remember who "departed" (They call the vanished people "departed") and why they departed. They go through some highly illegal, unethical, and borderline terrorist-like steps to achieve that goal.

This story is based around how it affects the people of a small town in upstate New York (where that 2% is strongly felt) the presence of the Guilty Remnant (the aforementioned lawless group), and the tension that continues to build as time goes by.

So yeah, there are worse things out there and society hasn't collapsed. Let's try and put this into perspective.

Imagine if the WBC was larger and had chapters and/or off-shoots in every town in the world. Let's imagine them at every funeral, every public function, every parade, every school dance, every where you look, and everywhere you go.

Now imagine they singled out and stalked the families of the dead military personnel, gays, and others that they typically target.

What kind of civil unrest do you think it would breed?

[HYHYBT]

I knew that the yearly total of deaths was going to be high, but the deaths are staggered over a full year, not all in one second.

Plus you could then further break down the information into age and circumstances, people expect 90 year olds to pop off eventually.

In addition to being spread out, they're also *deaths,* not vanishings, and in most cases the cause is either immediately apparent or can be found out.

[AccountingDrone]

Imagine if the WBC was larger and had chapters and/or off-shoots in every town in the world. Let's imagine them at every funeral, every public function, every parade, every school dance, every where you look, and everywhere you go.

Now imagine they singled out and stalked the families of the dead military personnel, gays, and others that they typically target.

What kind of civil unrest do you think it would breed?

Since this is a hypothetical ... I might theoretically point out that we have a sniper rifle, and both of us are *very* good shots. I think there might be a few WBC 'guilty remnants' missing every time there was a protest. Stalk me, I will stalk you back. Oops ... stranger broke into my house <makes sure they are inside the threshold first> Sucks to be them. Castle Doctrine rules.

[crashhelmet]

Since this is a hypothetical ... I might theoretically point out that we have a sniper rifle, and both of us are *very* good shots. I think there might be a few WBC 'guilty remnants' missing every time there was a protest. Stalk me, I will stalk you back. Oops ... stranger broke into my house <makes sure they are inside the threshold first> Sucks to be them. Castle Doctrine rules.

There are those in the show that do something quite similar. Hence the civil unrest and lawlessness shown in the commercials/promos for it.

[BlaqueKatt]

Plus you could then further break down the information into age and circumstances, people expect 90 year olds to pop off eventually.

almost 7 million of those are under 5.