Curse of Garra

[Guest]

Garra is an oasis in the Libyan desert. It was cursed more than 500 years ago by Abdel Sayed. The curse was that no more than 40 men would be alive in Garra.

Let us take an imaginary Garra with the same curse. The rules are altered slightly, so that when there is a shortage of men, more boys are born to take their place. Now tell me- if foreigners visited our Garra or the real one, would the population decrease?

Yes. During World War I, an Australian military detachment of eighteen men were stationed in the real Garra. Sure enough, eighteen deaths occurred. This would also work on pretend Garra, only they would regenerate faster.

[bonanova]

Simple answer: If one person visits Garra, the population increases, by one. Obviously, that's not what you're asking.

If I understand the curse, if there were 40 males alive when a boy child was born, one of the 41 males would immediately be struck down by the curse.

Second answer: By the amended rules [selective male birth rate], likely there will be exactly 40 males alive at any time.

If Garra was then visited, say by a family of 4 [mom dad sis bro], two males would be immediately struck down.

If those males included dad and/or bro, quite likely the remaining family members would decide against staying, and eventually leave.

That would decrease the population by one [either] or two [both].

So depending on whether decrease in the question means immediately or eventually, one of these answers might apply.

[Guest]

good point...except population is determined by where someone lives not by where someone visits. and the curse is no more than 40 men LIVING. not being alove. and the soldiers that were stationed there were technically living there in "homes."