Pretend that some sort of world catastrophe occured that somehow you managed to escape and that you are the last person living on earth. And pretend that the world was neither destroyed nor contaminated from the catastrophe and all that civilization had to offer up to now, was at your sole disposal. What would you do and where would you go?
Me? I guess I would have to drive my 911 porsche off the showroom floor, load it up with asti spumante and caviar then cruise over to that factory that makes the lifelike female rubber dolls.
First thing I would do is go buy the story of the Kon-Tiki and “Boeing 747 flying for dummies.”
Then I would hop over to Tasmania to see a Tasmanian devil in action. I’ve always wondered if they really twirl around like a hurricane as a means of locomotion.
OK, so call me a sci-fi nut, but I’d check out every book I could find on genetic engineering from the library (no overdue fees! Yay!) and set about trying to re-populate the world. Would be much easier were I female, but…
Does “all that civilization had to offer” include sperm/egg banks?
I envision hauling loads and loads of stuff (baseballs, watermelons, TVs, basically anything portable) to the top of the Empire State Building, and just start dropping. Not that I have a destructive streak, but because I have a curious streak and I would want to see what the results on the ground would look like.
After that, I would make my way to a few famous and exclusive golf courses. I suck at golf, but it would be fun and I’d be in some beautiful settings.
After that, I would build a woman out of papier mache and try to repopulate the planet, mainly because I would be insane by that point with no real people around.
Necrophilia!!! No, just kidding…seriously, I am…
Anyway, I’m going on the assumption that I wouldn’t be overwhelmed with grief…I’d find some damn good AI, and make a robot, and go and tour the world with it, probably…yes, that’s it exactly, not a word about necrophilia…oops…
There was a terrific Twilight Zone episode about this:
Mousy little guy (plyed by Burgess Meredith) with glasses like Coke bottles works in a bank and reads in the vault during his lunch hour. He is the continual butt of jokes, hazing, etc. from everyone, so he finds great solace in books and his time in the vault.
One day he goes into the vault and is accidently closed in. When he comes out the world has ended in some catastrophe. He stumbles along through town and comes to the library. “At last,” he says. “All the time in the world and all the books in the world to read.” He then bends over to pick up a volume and …
his glasses drop off his sweaty face and shatter. Poor guy can’t see a lick.
I’d probably go blow stuff up ala the Trashcan Man in The Stand. I’ve always been a bit of a pyro.
Maybe stop by a large port and see if the Queen Elizabeth II (or any suitably large ship) is in port…take her for a spin. Maybe an aircraft carrier if I can get my hands on one (the reactor is supposed to be good for years). Before anyone says anything I know aircraft carriers don’t simply have an ignition button and you go for a spin but I can fantasize)
Eventually I’d collect all the books/movies/computer games/porn/booze I could lay my hands on and move into a nice place (setup generators and all that to make the tv/vcr/computer work).
I’d leave one PC hooked to the SDMB just in case anyone was out there who needed an opinion on something :).
BTW:
There was a pretty good movie that dealt with something like this called The Quiet Earth(1985).
Spoiler (although I doubt anyone will see this who hasn’t already)
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This guy wakes up to find he’s the only person left anywhere. He goes insane for awhile but settles down and gets a routine together when…
…a woman shows up! Hooray for him! Until…
…another guy shows up (after he’s got a bit attached to the woman). Not a very happy situation.
The kicker is the only people who survived were people on the brink of death before a weird science experiment popped everyone else out of existence. To add another cruel twist to the lead character’s fate he was trying to commit suicide before he ‘popped’ back to life and it turns out to depress him as much the second time around as it did the first. The movie ends with yet another twist on the poor man’s life but I won’t give away everything.
You wouldn’t even have to check it out just walk out of the library. Or maybe just bring the food to you and live in the library reading all you want. I’d do that before I ended up driving across the country then I’d take a cruise ship to the other side of the world and tour there before I started to create test tube babies and hopefully find a way to make a fake uterus so I wouldn’t actually have to go through the birth. Repopulating the world like that would be so painful. The kids would be bad enough.
Yeah, I’d drive some Ferraris REALLY fast. I’d even try flying a plane, should I feel that lucky.
But the real truth is I’d probably kill myself within 24 hours. The sheer knowledge of being the absolute last person on earth? That’s just too much for me.
OK, I’d try and be REALLY creative about killing myself. Maybe I could open up all the gas cranes in the Taj Mahal and crash into it with one of them kick-ass Tupulev transporter planes. Nothing against Hindus, mind you, just for effect
I’d probably set things on fire ;). I’ve always wanted to see how fast and far a fire can spread unchecked, and well, the law, and my concern that other people would lose things prevent me from doing it :). Since no one would be around, I wouldnt have to worry about destroying other people’s things, since well, they’d be all mine. Oh and I could blow things up too.
Anyway, i’d probably get a new car each day from every car dealership I come across, and I’d take up residence in some fancy mansion. It would be nice to try to see other countries across the ocean from here, but i’d probably not be able to leave the western hemisphere. I could also visit other cities and bring stuff back as souveneirs.
First, I’d jump on the internet to experience a totally empty bandwidth.
Next, I’d move out of my little apartment to someplace where I can have a few dogs. A Golden Retriever and an Australian Cattle Dog.
Next, I’d go find a big SUV, something like a Canyonaro, and bust down the gate to the parking lot at work. To be a real rebel, I wouldn’t even put the parking decal back up on my new rear view mirror.
Next, I’d take a few days off and go do some birdwatching with the best pair of Leica binoculars I could get my hands on.
Next, I’d see if those flying lessons in a Cessna 150 I took (mumble) years ago stuck, and see if I could fly a Concorde. I’ll leave the Canyonaro in the loading/unloading zone. I’ll bring the dogs, and they can run up and down the first class section all they like.
Next, I’d see if I can land. If I can, then I’ll find another Canyonaro and go do more first class birdwatching.
Read “Earth Abides”, by George R. Stuart; Amazon has it.
It deals with this very subject.
I think first I’d find a Hummer, then an armory. Once that was done, I’d set out to explore.
I’d also scavenge all the books I could on survival, because for damn sure I’d eventually run into something that wanted to eat me before I could eat it, and the resources of civilization would be relatively short lived; Gasoline doesn’t have much of a shelf life, for instance.
A MAJOR case of the willies would probably keep me moving.
Another movie dealing with this theme was damnation alley.
