Surviving in the Siberian Wilderness for 70 Years (Full Length)

There's a fascinating family of old believers who escaped to the Russian Taiga in 1936 to escape persecution, with the surviving daughter living there to this day: link ▶ this video

> Why can’t I just walk away from social strata to begin with, and live my life happily as a “lower class” citizen living in the woods if I want? That's certainly an idealistic or romantic idea but it's not in any way realistic. Being poor, depending on where you live, also means having no social safety net. It means you can't educate your children, it means you and your family are vulnerable to all the social ills that afflict those who are in poverty. Being poor gives you the short end of the stick in almost every way that matters. It's not like everyone (or anyone, really) can live like the family in the film "Captain Fantastic", isolated in the woods, yet somehow thriving, more fit, and better educated. There's a documentary about people that lived for generations in the woods in Siberia for religious reasons. It was fanatic Christian sect called "True Believers" (can't find the documentary, but here's the Vice News story, ▶ this video ). Definitely not an attractive lifestyle!

Some people might find this video interesting. Family that fled into the siberian taiga for 70 years to avoid religious persecution. One thing that stands out in my memory is how they said their main form of entertainment was sharing and analyzing their dreams. ▶ this video

The article claims "Over the years Yerofey Sedov looked out for 71-year-old Agafya", but it fails to mention that Agafia did not find him helpful and that he did a 'sinful act' and blackmailed her. ▶ this video

Vice did a fun piece on this family a few years back that - on location - captures the environment they survived in -> ▶ this video

>Supposedly cats are technically not domesticated I have a Siberian cat from a breeder and I've compared him to pictures of Siberian cats that live in Siberian forest(in videos of link , i saw some of her cats. You can see one here ▶ this video ) and mine's definitely much more "cuter" .

Isolated families surviving does happen indeed. A good example is the Lykov family who were completely isolated for over 40 years. [1][2] However they brought with them tools made by others before starting their isolated life, like steel axes. They also imported education & language. I haven't heard of any isolated family success stories that start without any external help. -- [1] link [2] ▶ this video

You take such a mature and balanced approach toward content on the site. The content is interesting and thought provoking. It's why HN is my primary source of daily news. Please keep it up! I'm now watching the 35 minute documentary about Agafia and surviving in the Siberian wilderness. ▶ this video A metaphor just occurred to me: Hacker News is like a better Internet version of what the Discovery Channel and National Geographic Channel used to be in their golden days (back when MTV played music videos, before reality TV). HN is much better than that, since those were still TV, and did not cover business and leadership, but that's the best analogy I can come up with at the moment. I get far more out of reading HN-provided links and comments for hours than I ever did TV.

VICE has made a documentary about Agafia who is still alive and is still living in the wilderness. ▶ this video It's quite amazing that some one at 72 who grew up malnourished and without access to modern medicine can still be in a good enough shape to survive in one of the harshest environments man has ever lived.

In case you haven't seen it, Vice made and excellent documentary about Agafia's life in Siberia. It's a sad yet inspiring story, I highly recommend it for anyone interested. Heres the link: ▶ this video