I see no downside.
You’re asking this of a person that hates phones. I don’t care if I talk to anybody. I leave family get togethers after two hours maximum and hang by myself, because the noise hurts my ears, and my brain is overloaded. I can’t shop in a crowded store without almost shoving people over to get out. I could definitely do this one year stay no sweat.
With all the media I might want…sign me up. I can play alot of computer games, funerals could be attended by a proxy and recorded for me (would OP’s billionaire indulge that?).
Heck some of my first supply calls would involve large deliveries of steel stock and heavy metalworking gear.
By the end I would probably have a full size assortment of (battlemechs/X-Wing fighters/worlds largest chess pieces) in the yard. That alone could easily kill a year and be a hell of a lot of fun.
They could post info for you on facebook or something like that. Easy enough to get around using email.
My first thought is “Hell yes”. A whole year to myself with all my favorite games, tv, books, music and alone time? Sounds like heaven to me. But then there’s the logistics of putting my life on hold for a year. It would certainly require some planning but I’d probably still do it.
No. I would go crazy, and I’m not trading my sanity for a million dollars. Besides, if my grandmother died during that time, I would never forgive myself. (Also, I would almost certainly lose my job and not be able to get another tenure-track position, but that is a secondary consideration.)
No problem as long as I had a little time to prepare. I really like being around people but I get burned out after a month of partying I would be able to make it no problem.
After a week with people for my sisters wedding I’ve completely avoided people for three weeks and I’m making plans to be alone for the next two months. I think a month would burn me out for a year.
I think it would be a great chance to learn something new and catch up on all of the things I’ve missed. Not to mention I could use it as a way to change careers after the year was up.
Yes, I would do it, where do I sign up?
snap 
Although I tend to avoid family get together altogether (if at all possible).
Leaving my wife and child for the year would be the maker or breaker, but I think if my wife agreed… sign me up Skald. Can I get more $ if I stay longer?
And could we do away with the phone please?
(An email system that was restricted to only a single address for sending lists of supplies would be fine).
Yeah, I’d do it, assuming my wife and kids had no serius objections. Remember, you get $20,000 a month for every month you can stick it out. So I stay there for a month – $20,000. That wasn’t so hard, was it? Another month, not a problem. Etc. Etc.
Now, here’s my one condition. My wife and kids get to contact me in an emergency. I don’t get to respond to the message, but I get to receive it. If I consider the emergency bad enough, I walk out the door. and the contest is over.
The eccentric billionaire should have no problem agreeing to that. After all, it makes the temptation to leave that much higher, right?
convince my wife, and i’m in. good luck with that.
The OP is actually fairly clear that you can read message boards and emails. You just can’t “post anything or send any emails.”
In any case, there is no fundamental difference between reading a message on a message board or an email.
Given these easy conditions, it sounds more like a nice vacation than a challenge.
The lesson here is that as long as they have the internet, most people really don’t feel “cut off”, even if they aren’t able to actually respond.
Yes, and I think it would be the best year of my life!!
Actually, okay. If my boyfriend didn’t agree that my doing this for the money was worth spending a year apart, I wouldn’t do, because he and our relationship is the most important thing to me.
If no pets were allowed, I’d just board mine out for a year.
FYI, I just asked my SO and he said it would be ok. When do I start?
We did. She said “For a million you can keep him!”
(Kidding of course)
Being paid $1,000,000 to do nothing and have everything handed to me? Why is this even a question? I would do it. I am not at all dependent on human contact, except for the essentials already outlined in the rules. Being able to read books at my leisure for a whole year unfettered by work, bills, grocery shopping, etc sounds like heaven to me, really. There are no unfavorable conditions to me. It is too easy.
The words “in a heartbeat” come to mind. I suppose I’d first have to run it by my fiancee, but she could send me updates all the time, and if it got too much for her, I could bail with the monthly earnings to that point.
But seriously, you’d be setting me up with a year of housing, food, and amenities plus paying me. I would take that time to hopefully finish the novel I’m working on and keep the 1 year of solitude journal for publication as well.
I would also use that time to read widely in the sciences and learn other topics as well. This sounds like a dream set-up to me.
I’d consider doing it for free.
Does On Demand porn count as “non-interactive media”?
How about a blog or online Journal that I can write to, but no one can respond? That way I can imagine the teeming millions out there following my daily adventures.
No.
I’m very much an introvert. I like spending time by myself. I like living alone. I like introspection.
I can do a long weekend without any human contact. After that, I need to go to the store just to acknowledge someone and to be acknowledged. Not a long, deep conversation, just a voice that isn’t my own.
My sanity would be very much blown by the end of the year.
A million isn’t enough to do that voluntarily.
Nope, no way I would leave my kids for that long, no way, no how. 1,000,000 is not worth one year of watching them grow. Plus, I would miss my friends and my husband.
Absolutely! I would use the time to read and get in the best shape of my life!