# For $1,000,000, would you forgo all human contact for one year? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 14, 2009, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-1-000-000-would-you-forgo-all-human-contact-for-one-year/510068 "2009-09-14T19:20:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-1-000-000-would-you-forgo-all-human-contact-for-one-year/510068/121 "2009-09-15T14:30:30Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Yeah, I’d do it, assuming my wife and kids had no serius objections. After I logged off last night, I mentioned this to my wife. She volunteered to pack my suitcase, so I’m okay on the home front. But since there’s a pretty strong majority so far, let’s raise the stakes. Let’s say there’s no million-dollar payoff at the end of one year. Instead, the money you get increases with each month you stay isolated. $20,000 for the first month, $21,000 for the second, $22,000 for the third, etc. At what point would you decide it wasn’t worth it anymore? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-1-000-000-would-you-forgo-all-human-contact-for-one-year/510068/122 "2009-09-15T14:40:48Z")
It’s tax-free (to me), so I’d have to sit down with the wife and do a little financial planning. I would probably shoot for 6 months or so. That would get a goodly down payment on a new house, and some change for new furniture. Without the big pay-off at the end, it isn’t worth it to stretch the isolation out much longer than that. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-1-000-000-would-you-forgo-all-human-contact-for-one-year/510068/123 "2009-09-15T14:46:10Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > At what point would you decide it wasn’t worth it anymore? Probably once the dog(s) need a vet or there’s a family emergency. Other than that, I’d max out at 2 years. ---
**Author:** ![Telcontar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Telcontar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telcontar)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-1-000-000-would-you-forgo-all-human-contact-for-one-year/510068/124 "2009-09-15T14:50:05Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > After I logged off last night, I mentioned this to my wife. She volunteered to pack my suitcase, so I’m okay on the home front. > > But since there’s a pretty strong majority so far, let’s raise the stakes. Let’s say there’s no million-dollar payoff at the end of one year. Instead, the money you get increases with each month you stay isolated. $20,000 for the first month, $21,000 for the second, $22,000 for the third, etc. At what point would you decide it wasn’t worth it anymore? If she was so eager to pack your suitcase, are you sure everything is okay on the home front? On those terms, I’d stay a month. Build some muscles, get a lot of writing done, read a lot of fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-1-000-000-would-you-forgo-all-human-contact-for-one-year/510068/125 "2009-09-15T16:18:20Z")
Dellelo was serving a life sentence for 1st degree murder. He was already screwy. I’m screwy too, but I’m also pretty antisocial. I could easily kill a year satying busy on a project or two. A hundred years ago it was not uncommon for Daddy to leave the wyfe & kids to go off in search of a better life. Could take a year or more to accomplish that. The cash would go a long way toward improving the quality of life of my wife & kids for many subsequent years. Put me in the box. I could do it for between one & two years before I decided the time spent was no longer worth the money. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-1-000-000-would-you-forgo-all-human-contact-for-one-year/510068/126 "2009-09-15T16:48:12Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > That million dollars is looking worse and worse to me. I would be willing to bet most supermax prisoners are already a little less than emotionally healthy or they probably wouldn’t be there in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-1-000-000-would-you-forgo-all-human-contact-for-one-year/510068/127 "2009-09-15T16:49:08Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > A hundred years ago it was not uncommon for Daddy to leave the wyfe & kids to go off in search of a better life. Could take a year or more to accomplish that. The cash would go a long way toward improving the quality of life of my wife & kids for many subsequent years. Put me in the box. Yes, but daddy went to a logging camp with a bunch of other loggers. Or out to sea with the other sailors. Or to “the big city” where there were people. Or even if daddy went into the forest to hunt and trap, he had to trade with someone every so often. There’s a big difference between not seeing/communicating with your family and friends for a year and not communicating with anyone. I think people are underestimating how much social contact humans need. ETA: The article also mentioned people who sailed long distances alone & astronauts. People who were not necessarily screwy before isolation. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-1-000-000-would-you-forgo-all-human-contact-for-one-year/510068/128 "2009-09-15T16:54:40Z")
I’d do it in a New York minute. No hesitation. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-1-000-000-would-you-forgo-all-human-contact-for-one-year/510068/129 "2009-09-15T16:57:14Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > After I logged off last night, I mentioned this to my wife. She volunteered to pack my suitcase, so I’m okay on the home front. > > But since there’s a pretty strong majority so far, let’s raise the stakes. Let’s say there’s no million-dollar payoff at the end of one year. Instead, the money you get increases with each month you stay isolated. $20,000 for the first month, $21,000 for the second, $22,000 for the third, etc. At what point would you decide it wasn’t worth it anymore? Once you cross about 2.5 years that adds up in a hurry. I could see doing this for as much as 5 years. That would put you coming out the far end just shy of 3 million assuming no investment income during that time. Well invested you could probably make that closer to 4 million. I would look at it like going back to school, trade 5 years of my life for a kick ass future. Once out, I am just another ettcentric millionaire. ---
**Author:** ![Hedda\_Rosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hedda_rosa/32/1204_2.png) [@Hedda\_Rosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hedda_Rosa)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-1-000-000-would-you-forgo-all-human-contact-for-one-year/510068/130 "2009-09-15T17:32:03Z")
Heck yeah I’d do this, especially if I can have my cat. Thinking of the supermax, I think that the relative monotony of the experience is a lot of what makes people bonkers (besides being bonkers already). With a house and one acre to roam around in, see the seasons change, count the stars, feel the wind on my face? That would make all the difference. It would be lonely, but not make me crazy, I’m sure of it. And I’d do it in a second, once my kids are launched. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-1-000-000-would-you-forgo-all-human-contact-for-one-year/510068/131 "2009-09-15T17:40:37Z")
> [@drachillix](#): > > Once you cross about 2.5 years that adds up in a hurry. I could see doing this for as much as 5 years. That would put you coming out the far end just shy of 3 million assuming no investment income during that time. Well invested you could probably make that closer to 4 million. > > I would look at it like going back to school, trade 5 years of my life for a kick ass future. > > Once out, I am just another ettcentric millionaire. I wonder if the OP would consider being active in the investment market to be “interaction”? ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-1-000-000-would-you-forgo-all-human-contact-for-one-year/510068/132 "2009-09-15T18:54:22Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > But since there’s a pretty strong majority so far, let’s raise the stakes. Let’s say there’s no million-dollar payoff at the end of one year. Instead, the money you get increases with each month you stay isolated. $20,000 for the first month, $21,000 for the second, $22,000 for the third, etc. At what point would you decide it wasn’t worth it anymore? Without the pay off it becomes much harder since I only have 4 weeks vacation and I would lose my job by going any longer. I would be temped to just do a month since I could use the 20K tax free. On the other hand if I lose my job I’m going to need at least three years to go back to school and in this economy probably another year for job hunting. With tuition and my expenses I would have to go at least 15 months by my calculations. The problem with that is it’s a long time. I think I will be going at least a bit crazy after a year and I think missing two Christmases would at least put me into a pretty depressive state, assuming I start this whole thing at the end of the month. Without a life changing payoff I think I’ll just bail with the fun money after one month but I’ll be in great shape. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-1-000-000-would-you-forgo-all-human-contact-for-one-year/510068/133 "2009-09-15T19:04:19Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > I wonder if the OP would consider being active in the investment market to be “interaction”? I think so long as your dealings were only with automated systems, it woul dnot count as person-to-person interaction. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-1-000-000-would-you-forgo-all-human-contact-for-one-year/510068/134 "2009-09-15T19:05:32Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > Just a taste from the New Yorker article: > > And: > > Full article [here](http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/03/30/090330fa_fact_gawande). (It’s really long.) > > That million dollars is looking worse and worse to me. How can you \*possibly \*compare solitary confinement in a six foot square supermax prison cell with living alone for a year in a 2 story house with an acre sized yard, the choice to have pets if you want them, internet access, television, online grocery shopping, all the books & movies you could want, etc. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-1-000-000-would-you-forgo-all-human-contact-for-one-year/510068/135 "2009-09-15T19:12:02Z")
Hell yes. Do you know of such an offer? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-1-000-000-would-you-forgo-all-human-contact-for-one-year/510068/136 "2009-09-15T19:56:59Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > How can you \*possibly \*compare solitary confinement in a six foot square supermax prison cell with living alone for a year in a 2 story house with an acre sized yard, the choice to have pets if you want them, internet access, television, online grocery shopping, all the books & movies you could want, etc. As someone mentioned upthread, while the article is mainly about prisoners and hostages, it also mentions people who are completely socially isolated voluntarily: [QUOTE=The New Yorker] Among our most benign experiments are those with people who voluntarily isolate themselves for extended periods. Long-distance solo sailors, for instance, commit themselves to months at sea. They face all manner of physical terrors: thrashing storms, fifty-foot waves, leaks, illness. Yet, for many, the single most overwhelming difficulty they report is the “soul-destroying loneliness,” as one sailor called it. Astronauts have to be screened for their ability to tolerate long stretches in tightly confined isolation, and they come to depend on radio and video communications for social contact. [/QUOTE] I think the voluntary nature of the confinement and the open space will help people last longer than an unstable prisoner in a supermax, but I think most people here really don’t have any idea how they would react to three months without talking to another soul, let alone a year. Yeah, I hate people too, but that doesn’t address the fact that humans need social contact. I almost wish I were a billionaire so I could conduct this disturbing psychological experiment and get some hard data about human beings’ limits. Apparently, I’d have no dearth of test subjects. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-1-000-000-would-you-forgo-all-human-contact-for-one-year/510068/137 "2009-09-15T20:33:39Z")
is this even a serious question? hell yes. I have so much stuff to do that never gets done because I am working to put food on the table I would absolutely love this toss in a real doll and its on!! ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-1-000-000-would-you-forgo-all-human-contact-for-one-year/510068/138 "2009-09-15T20:35:54Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > I can lock you up in my apartment. Wanna? All the amenities included? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-1-000-000-would-you-forgo-all-human-contact-for-one-year/510068/139 "2009-09-15T20:36:30Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I’m somewhat surprised at the number of persons willing to do it. I thought reactions like **Anaamika** ’s would be in the majority. Does it bother none of you that you won’t be getting any incoming communication, either? I bet it would be different in a warmer climate, too. I was alone for ten days about four years ago, in the worst part of January. The temperature was around zero degrees as I drove home from work and then every night it dropped below that. My car had trouble starting every morning. None of my friends wanted to do anything. Hell, I didn’t want to. Every day I’d come home and the house’d be empty, cold, no one waiting for me. I don’t want a dog or a cat. No one to cuddle up to or talk to. But it was too bitterly cold to go out and there was ice and snow everywhere. Those ten days taught me it would be very hard for me to live alone permanently. I think if the SO and I broke up I would have to get a roomate. However, if the weather had been warmer, and I had been able to go out, and enjoy myself? I still would have had a hard time but I think I could have managed it better. A year in Albany weather? Completely alone? No way. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-1-000-000-would-you-forgo-all-human-contact-for-one-year/510068/140 "2009-09-15T21:31:03Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > All the amenities included? I don’t have a fancy lawn or a huge library, but I can provide a teevee machine, internet and PS3. As for reading material, I have a couple of Whitley Strieber books. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-1-000-000-would-you-forgo-all-human-contact-for-one-year/510068.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-1-000-000-would-you-forgo-all-human-contact-for-one-year/510068.md?page=8)