[jonnathanson]

I'm a little skeptical. Isolated individuals cannot successfully reproduce a population. Furthermore, those who intentionally isolate themselves seem less likely to achieve reproductive success in the event that, say, they stumbled across a suitable mate, or a post-disaster survivor encampment.

[DannyDaemonic]

Perhaps I read the article wrong, but I was under the impression that he came back to society after 27 years. This would mean if there had been a disaster while he was gone, his genes would make up a much higher percentage of the population than if he had stayed.