How long could you be cut off from modern society?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Here’s a challenge, sort of an anti-Survivor.

Premise: You are cut off from the modern world.

Incentive: $1000 per month (full months only, no pro-rating) with a $500 increase for each additional month for as long as you can stand it.

Rules:

  1. Assume all your other needs are taken care of: food, shelter, medicine, etc.

  2. Access to all forms of entertainment (books, tv, movies, etc) UP TO the moment the contest begins. After that, NOTHING. No tv, movies, newspapers, magazines, internet, or anything else that could give a clue as to what’s going on in the “real” world.

  3. No communication with another human being, PERIOD!

  4. You will not be videotaped, filmed, or otherwise recorded other than some sort of monitoring device to make sure you don’t die. There would also be a “panic button” for when you want to quit or become ill.

  5. No pets or companions that are alive in the sense that people or animals are alive. If you want a plant to talk to, that would be OK.

  6. You may have access to any equipment to satisfy any hobbies you may have, but you must say so up front.

Well?

2

Some of your rules contradict.

Premise: You are cut off from the modern world.

How are animals part of the modern world?

Anyway, if you base your contest on your premise, and remove the section regarding animals, I could last as long as nature allowed me to live. And, if I am able to choose the location of my isolation from the modern world, interaction with animals is unavoidable.

The supplies I would need are as follows:

2 large knives
1 Axe head
1 Axe handle
1 sharpening stone
1 shovel
1 water purification system with refills
5 flints and steels
1 compass
2 gallons of water (for the first day)
1 guide to edible plants for the area
2 pairs of cargo pants
2 thermal pants
2 thermal shirts
3 pairs cotton socks
2 pairs wool socks
2 flannel shirts
1 leather belt
2 pairs of leather hiking boots
1 vynal tarp 20’x20’

I would choose to live in a forrested area, with access to fresh water and wildlife. When do we start?

3

Well, considering I don’t watch tv much (maybe one or two hours a week) or receive a newspaper and don’t get the news on line at all and hardly listen to the radio. (It’s on for noise.)

I could live with out my internet (after withdrawl).

I do not see any other adults during the day. Frankly, in the winter time I might go 7 -10 days without leaving the house (other than a trip to the mail box - whoo hoo) because it is too much of a pain in the ass to dress two kids and myself to go outside)

When my husband comes home at night, we might have a few words to a complete paragraph of " How was your day". As their is not alot of outside stimulant in my part, I don’t have a lot to contribute.

I would miss my kids and husband ( but I would get over it), but not the drudgery.

I would not miss my dog.

I would want my computer for writing. Note books and all my reference books. Perhaps my crochet so I could practice on something other than pot holders. Definately my sewing maching and unlimited material to destroy.

Can we have cd’s?

Am I on a desert island or trapped in some room?

I would do this until I shed the last twenty pounds, oh and grow my hair out.

I would probably last six months and all the viewers at home would get is me babbling to myself during all the waking hours, which is pretty much what I do now.

4

This actually sounds pretty easy. But it’s not.

I don’t consider myself much of a social animal. However, I have to say that $1,000 per month increasing by $500 every month thereafter seems woefully small to get me to sit arouund bored out of my gourd.

I was never any good at math, but it seems that this would only come to $45,000 if you stay a whole year. Big deal. This is of course assuming that you get $1,000 the first month, then $1,500 the next, and $2,000 the next and so on up to $6,500 for the twelfth month. In any case, I don’t really think that 45 large is enough to buy me off for a year. Granted, I wouldn’t have to work, but I would be bored as hell. Not to mention the fact that I am horny and not having sex for a whole year would drive me nuckin’ futs.

So, I probably couldn’t do it for more than a month.

5

Well, let’s see.

1. Assume all your other needs are taken care of: food, shelter, medicine, etc.

Does that include pizza? That’s the main benefit of modern society anyway.

2. Access to all forms of entertainment (books, tv, movies, etc) UP TO the moment the contest begins. After that, NOTHING.

No books, huh? That one would be tough; the rest I could live without, no problem.

3. No communication with another human being, PERIOD!

That’s alright–the older I get, the more I suspect communicating with other human beings isn’t worth it.

4. You will not be videotaped, filmed, or otherwise recorded[…].

Good.

5. No pets or companions that are alive in the sense that people or animals are alive. If you want a plant to talk to, that would be OK.

That’s ok–I can talk to myself just as easily. (And I almost always win the arguments that way.)

6. You may have access to any equipment to satisfy any hobbies you may have, but you must say so up front.

Gimme plenty of paper and pens–I’ll write my own books.

Well?

I suspect I could last 10 years, which if I’m doing this right would be $3,690,000, + interest, - taxes. Sounds good to me.

6

Books and CDs (albums, tapes, whatever) are OK. The no pets rule is to emphasize the alone part. I know people who aren’t people-persons and get along with their dog/cat/bird better than other humans. The money thing is really a “what’s your price” matter since, supposedly, everyone has a price. If you want pizza, no problem, as long as there’s no newspapers hidden in it :).