[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

Originally Posted by After a brisk nap

Yeah, but that doesn't make sense.

I don't have any problems imagining everyone just suddenly evaporating, but to believe that all systems would just turn themselves off, that all supertankers would pilot themselves into dock, that no stove would be left on and no gas pump left running... that defies belief.

Um, it's really just a hypothetical study: What if our influence on this planet vanished? There is no cause for realism in this question.

Besides, isn't it interesting to think about? How many seconds would it take before abandoned cars crashed or slowed to a halt? [etc.]

Indeed it is, but completely beside the point.