It intrigued me. Blue Sloth posted a question a few days ago that I can't stop thinking about. Is it ethical or even legal (by blogger's standards) to re-post someone else's post? I don't know but will take comments on that too if you're inclined.
His question was this:
"If you were the last person left on the planet, what would you do? You woke up one day a year ago and everyone had disappeared. All infrastructure was still intact, there was plenty of food, water, transportation. The cities were all still there. Just no people. You have given up trying to find some trace of humanity.
So all your material needs are easily taken care of. You can live wherever you like, and you have no responsibilities to anyone other than yourself. How would you choose to spend your days, free of all restrictions?
What would you do with your life?"
I thought a lot about this. I decided that travel would mostly be out of the question unless you drove everywhere you wanted to go. But most of the places I'm dying to go are overseas and I don't know how to sail or operate a ship so that's out. I might drive lots of places. I thought that most of the activities I engage in right now are for the purpose of someone else which leaves me not much else. I could read lots and that would be fun for a while. But I think it would be way more fun if everyone came back after awhile. If they didn't, then there'd be no point to living after a time! It would be lonely and nothing would even matter. I believe that most of what we do, we are intended to share it with someone else whether it be a spouse, friend, sibling, son/daugher or whatever. Without someone to share life with, then it's pointness, insignificant, and devoid of all color, flavor and overall fun.
So if everyone suddenly disappeared and never came back, I'd eat Doritos until I exploded...literally...on purpose.
If everyone suddenly disappeared and was scheduled to come back at a scheduled date, I'd live it up! Go wherever I want, whenever I want...watch movies, read, drive all over the place, and generally be a hedonist until the return of my family, when I have to be responsible and disciplined again.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Blue Sloth's Question
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 backward glances:
Dang. I was sitting here trying to think of an answer and I find the very question depressing. :) Truth is, life isn't anything without relationships...
My faith in God, I hope, would hold me together and give me hope for hope.
Although the "given" in the question is that I had given up hope that anyone else was alive... I think the only thing that could keep me interested in living is the search. So, that is probably what I would do. Search even though I lost hope to find someone.
Either that, or I would (1) mow my lawn (2) give myself a big fat raise, and (3) start eating bran muffins because there would be no one to cure my colon cancer if I got it. :)
Amy,
Thanks for the very sweet comment this morning! I was so scared to blog about my "kid" issues, because quite frankly, it is easier to blog about scrapbooks! : ) Thank you for being so supportive. You made me feel so empowered- thank you.
If I was the last gal on earth, I would sleep for five days straight, and not have to listen to anyone call me lazy!
To answer your first question, as long as you post a link back to the original author and credit them for it, it's generally okay to re-post someone else's post.
Having said that, you might come across someone who asks you not to do that with their work and then it would be wise to respect that and take the post down.
I've had people flat out plagiarize my work so perhaps I'm a bit sensitive on the matter. :)
As for the second question, I'd visit all the great touristy places in the U.S. knowing there wouldn't be any lines to wait in.
Humans need other human interaction no matter how much of a loner they are. It plays into one's sanity. And the world really needs other humans to make it a livable place and to make the world run.
One can have all the luxuries in the world at his/her disposal but the parts that make it livable aren't going to function as there aren't people running it. What would it be like with Disney without mickey, people to run the roller coasters, how are you going to get the delicious spaghetti from that italian restaurant only made by that one guy (who knows the secret ingredient), how are we going to fly the planes to another country (as we aren't trained to do so), how we going to fix our car if it breaks down (assuming you aren't a mechanic) etc. etc.
Eventually, things will start to breakdown and be deemed unusable as there isn't anyone else to fix it or keep it running. The world will really start to be an unlivable place. Infrastructure is nothing without those maintaining it and running it.
Now if we were cavemen, it might be totally different. We as a society have been spoilt by the luxuries of life and the innovations of technology --- alot of things we take for granted. Being the last person left in this world -- I doubt one can survive very long.
Good question though, I love discussing what if questions like that. Thanks for posting it!
No one left? Well in that case, I am spending my remaining time cataloging the behavior of ocean-going animals. Starting with the Blue Whale.
I'll hang with them until I can speak whalesong. Then I will convey my snarky musings to them, and see if I can elict a whale chortle...
SA
Post a Comment