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Corn doesn't grow wild


The Rogue Tomato

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Just a minor nit-pick. Corn would become extinct very quickly without human intervention. So unless some NPC in the game is going around planting corn here and there in random places, you shouldn't be able to find any in the wild, only in human-managed corn fields.

 

Yeah, I know, it's a game, not reality. Just thought I'd toss out the trivia.

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if it doesn't grow out in the wild how the hell did we get it in the first place?

 

so it's the old "Which came first the corn or the seed" dilemma

 

 

maybe someone turned around and checked before flushing and thought "Hmmm, what are those and what will happen if I plant them..."

 

 

 

 

(I know, ewwwwww)

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if it doesn't grow out in the wild how the hell did we get it in the first place?

 

The versions of corn we see today have been genetically modified to give bigger yields and not be perennial. If you can find unmodified corn you can get it to persist through winters, maybe, but it still won't spread out fast and is therefore susceptible to local damage (flooding, drought, that sort of thing).

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The versions of corn we see today have been genetically modified to give bigger yields and not be perennial. If you can find unmodified corn you can get it to persist through winters, maybe, but it still won't spread out fast and is therefore susceptible to local damage (flooding, drought, that sort of thing).

 

Not just 'directly' genetically modified.. but selective 'breeding' over thousands of years. Its a great example of how we as humans have been modifying our foods long before direct genetic tampering :)

 

Most corn as we know it simply wouldn't exist if it wasn't for human intervention including the the various 'wild' variants.

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Not just 'directly' genetically modified.. but selective 'breeding' over thousands of years. Its a great example of how we as humans have been modifying our foods long before direct genetic tampering :)

 

Most corn as we know it simply wouldn't exist if it wasn't for human intervention including the the various 'wild' variants.

 

I have lived on and around farms most of my life, though never had the inclination to be a farmer. I can say for sure that there have been abandoned fields (for many years in a row) that had spotty bits of corn growing on them year after year (long after human intervention ceased). Granted, it wasn't a field full but it did happen. Not scientific evidence but I tend to think nature can and does find its way back to being in control a lot faster than we can change its course. ;)

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if it doesn't grow out in the wild how the hell did we get it in the first place?

 

Corn is not a natural plant. It is the result of a continuous process of making hybrids of various grasses, a process that started hundreds of years ago. The original grasses were wild, but the hybridized corn is not.

 

In order for corn to grow wild, the kernels would not only have to fall off the cob, they'd have to work their way through the husk. You might find a few stalks of corn in a corn field that grew "wild", but that's most likely due to kernels dropping off during a harvest of dried feed corn. Left to its own, corn wouldn't do that. Without human cultivation, the corn we have now would die out in a few years, at most.

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I have lived on and around farms most of my life, though never had the inclination to be a farmer. I can say for sure that there have been abandoned fields (for many years in a row) that had spotty bits of corn growing on them year after year (long after human intervention ceased). Granted, it wasn't a field full but it did happen. Not scientific evidence but I tend to think nature can and does find its way back to being in control a lot faster than we can change its course. ;)

 

As have I and seen the same thing.. however that corn IS there due to human intervention (those fields were planted by man in the first place and thus some still kinda remains) A bird didn't drop a few 'seeds' while flying and caused those patches to show up :)

 

But that wasn't really my point. Rather that corn (as we know it) is a man made thing and doesn't naturally occur in the wild. Some wild varieties can exist (and even prosper) with minimal human intervention.. but those varieties still only exists in general because we made them.

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Just a minor nit-pick. Corn would become extinct very quickly without human intervention. So unless some NPC in the game is going around planting corn here and there in random places, you shouldn't be able to find any in the wild, only in human-managed corn fields.

 

Yeah, I know, it's a game, not reality. Just thought I'd toss out the trivia.

 

It could grow wild.

 

After the fall of humanity, it's reasonable to think animals would eat crops and spread seeds around.

 

We know, from centuries of data, that mutations happen and even domesticated plants can produce a viable offshoot within even ONE generation.

 

It's very likely those plants would propagate very quickly with no humans around to consume them.

 

Also... let's face it... MonSanto has GMO'd everything. Who know what their garbage would produce in the apocalypse.

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As has been established in the thread, our current yellow corn isn't the naturally wild growing one, but a modified one. And considering we don't have a firm timeline for the game and when we "wake up" and how far back the destruction has been, it's not that unreasonable to see some of it around. Who knows, maybe the radiation mutated it somewhat, or simply a fluke mutation of its genes allowing it to somewhat prosper.

 

Maybe it was a high level corn that had done enough zombie killing to gain enough skill points to unlock Sexual Tyrannosaurus perk which comes with additional fertility for plants ;)

 

Just you wait until the potato starts unlocking Pummel Pete, don't get close!

 

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Corn is actually one of the greatest refutations of evolution!

 

For 5000 years man has undergone the single most massive effort at changing something. But after all that, its still just grass. Like the OP said in a very short time corn would look like grass again!

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Corn is actually one of the greatest refutations of evolution!

 

For 5000 years man has undergone the single most massive effort at changing something. But after all that, its still just grass. Like the OP said in a very short time corn would look like grass again!

 

There is a ton of evidence to refute evolution, but anyone who says so generally becomes terribly unpopular. Myself included.

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There is a ton of evidence to refute evolution, but anyone who says is terribly unpopular. Myself included.

 

Oh you spoiled my fun! I wanted to see who the pseudo science people in the group are so I could understand them better.

 

But yes, the only thing 'evolution' proved was that species adapt to their environment and not mutate unto another species.

Interestingly enough, after the "Cambrian explosion", no new species were made since and only a few percent of the initial group remains.

 

Like when I was working, I would try to use the word: 'Nuclear' on a new person I would be in a project with. I would pronounce the word 'Nuc-u-lar'. Small change but a certain type would catch that and tell me I was wrong. I thanked them and I knew that they will be great to work with. :)

 

"Retentive people are GREAT to work with if you're serious about your work." -Al

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Oh my God. Please, I was not expecting creationist horse♥♥♥♥ at my current gaming forum. Go Google Dunning-Kruger Effect and spend a while reading, then go to the library and inter-library loan a vertebrate paleontology book. If that's too heavy, go to Talk Origins and read through everything there, then hit up the forums at Panda's Thumb.

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

But yes, the only thing 'evolution' proved was that species adapt to their environment and not mutate unto another species.

Interestingly enough, after the "Cambrian explosion", no new species were made since and only a few percent of the initial group remains.

 

Let me channel our new POTUS. Ahem--WRONG.

 

Like when I was working, I would try to use the word: 'Nuclear' on a new person I would be in a project with. I would pronounce the word 'Nuc-u-lar'. Small change but a certain type would catch that and tell me I was wrong. I thanked them and I knew that they will be great to work with. :)

 

Or maybe just an ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. But if you like people telling you you're wrong I'll oblige.

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Oh my God. Please, I was not expecting creationist horse♥♥♥♥ at my current gaming forum. Go Google Dunning-Kruger Effect and spend a while reading, then go to the library and inter-library loan a vertebrate paleontology book. If that's too heavy, go to Talk Origins and read through everything there, then hit up the forums at Panda's Thumb.

 

"Go to Talk Origins" -- It never fails. That's always the standard response to anyone who questions evolution.

 

JP Sears should do one of these on evolution.

 

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That's because Talk Origins covers the basics pretty well, and frankly creationist objections are all the same horse♥♥♥♥ over and over and over. You'd think they'd have made some headway in the last 50 years, but no. Well, I guess they made a little--Answers in Genesis realized a handful of their bad arguments were bad and said they should not be used, which reduces the horse♥♥♥♥ quotient by about 2% if followed. (I still see people use these arguments all the time, though.)

 

I will start a thread on evolution in Off Topic, because whoa. The Cambrian Explosion claim above is just mind-blowingly wrong. If you don't like reading Talk Origins, I will walk you through some stuff there.

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