Ensuring post-apocalyptic survival at TL8?

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by riprock

I ran the numbers on this problem five or ten years ago and I concluded that 500 specimens would be sufficient to avoid inbreeding. (Kim Stanley Robinson could do it with 300, but he's smarter than I am.... and also sexier and more pleasing in the eyes of Cthulhu...)

Furthermore, I convinced myself that it would be possible to get 500 highly motivated, multi-talented geniuses who could memorize the skills for an entire nation.

E.g. a physician who can also serve as a piano tuner and violin maker, who recites Chaucer to relax.

The physician would be married to a biotechnologist who can breed up all kinds of organisms, from microbes to clones.

And so on.

Key technologies in my simulation included composting, renewable energy, hydroponics, and aeroponics.

If you're throwing reality out the window, why not just have one unaging superman with photographic memory?