Another fun test - the desert island test

[Expat]

Ok, this one will have very specific conditions.

The proposal: to spend one year alone on a tropical desert island, with no loss to your professional/family/study affairs, and you'll get one extra year of your salary at the end (if you don't work, imagine a good but not huge amount of money).

Details of the island:

- plenty of fresh water and trees
- no human beings
- relatively mild weather (some rain, but not storms or the like)
- lots of birds and small animals, but no dangerous ones and no poisonous fish
- some banana trees, coconuts and the like, but not so much that you can live off only of them for the whole year

The point is: there is no obvious danger, and you won't lack food and water even if you don't do anything, but not for the whole year.

So, for food, in the longer term you will have to do some fishing and/or hunting and/or grow your own food.

Before you go, you get:

- basic training on how to fish, hunt, grow your own food, and make fire using sticks, dry plants and the like.

You can take with you:

- just the clothes you're wearing (plus glasses if you wear them)
- one one-person's tent
- a lighter to make fire in emergencies (but not with enough fuel to use it the whole year)
- books, but not more than a total of 1000 pages
- seeds and the like to start your garden
- a knife

If you have an accident or get seriously will you can send a radio signal to be picked up, but if you do it once the exercise is terminated and you don't get the money, even if one day before the year is over.

The point is that you'll have to be able to take care of yourself, and be alone, but not in extreme conditions as in that Castaway movie with Tom Hanks. You're given a fair start.

The question is:

Would you in principle want to give it a try? Why? And if not, why not?

If you have family, partner, etc, try imagine you didn't - the same goes for if you need regular medication, etc.

[Jimbean]

Nope

[Expat]

Why exactly?

[marooned]

No, I wouldn't do it. I could enjoy it for maybe a week, possibly even a month, but not a year. I would be afraid of being alone that long. Also even though I spend a lot of time alone I have tons of things to amuse myself with that I wouldn't have there. I don't think I'd do very well. We all saw what happened to the Castaway guy: he started talking to his soccer ball. Enough said.

[UDP]

Ok, this one will have very specific conditions.

The proposal: to spend one year alone on a tropical desert island, with no loss to your professional/family/study affairs, and you'll get one extra year of your salary at the end (if you don't work, imagine a good but not huge amount of money).

Does that mean you would just your regular compensation for this year-long event?
Or you would get 2 years of pay for this one year-long event?

[Expat]

Ok, this one will have very specific conditions.

The proposal: to spend one year alone on a tropical desert island, with no loss to your professional/family/study affairs, and you'll get one extra year of your salary at the end (if you don't work, imagine a good but not huge amount of money).

Does that mean you would just your regular compensation for this year?
Or you would get 2 years of pay for this?

2 years.

[Gilly]

In principle, absolutely. I've always wondered what it would be like to live a really minimalistic lifestyle. I'd love to try it both to test myself and to see what life is/was like for those who actually live(d) that way.

In reality, I think my biggest problem would be getting bored. If it was a real life or death situation, I think I would be too worried about actually surviving to get too bored, but knowing that I was doing it by choice and that I'd be getting picked up in a year, I feel like I might just be sitting and waiting for a helicopter the whole time. Obviously living on a pine needle mattress would take some adjusting to, but I think the physical conditions would be easier to make up for in the long run than the mental aspect of being alone of a desert island with nothing to do.

[leckysupport]

Nope

Same, I would probably go mad. Nothing happens on desert islands, too boring and it's not like there is a choice between being bored and not being bored, you have to do nothing all day ever day for a year.

I would do it for 3 or 4 months max.

[Expat]

than the mental aspect of being alone of a desert island with nothing to do.

You'll have to get food, you know. As I said, you won't be able to live off the island if you don't fish/hunt/grow some food.

[Gilly]

Well yeah but I'm talking about the long in-between hours. Obviously in the beginning I'll spend the days building a shelter and amassing tools and resources and such, but after I've got everything laid out I'll just be laying around once I've gotten up and caught/made food for the day.

[Jimbean]

Okay

Because I would not get anything more for going there. I suppose there might be something cool there, but there might not be.

[Expat]

Okay

Because I would not get anything more for going there. I suppose there might be something cool there, but there might not be.

So if you got more money you'd do it?

[UDP]

hm


Then may change my opinion about doing it. If there was no monetary gain at all, no, I would not.


What would hold me back:
At this point in my life, I don't have a lot of family ties, so I would not really say it was family. But my job and moving forth with my education. I want to get to grad school as soon as possible with as high a GPA as possible - I am extremely dedicated this year.

One major factor would be whether or not this would really help me towards my long term goals, particularly, going for a PHD, working in the peace corps, working in something like the UN, or another major similar organization (nonprofit generally), though I expect to work in the for profit sector as well. That is something I would definitely spend a lot of time talking with other people about, to make sure that my investment of time was working towards that end.

The flipside is, I lose a whole year. And personally, for me, I have had so much time alone to meditate and sit - I want action and involvement at this point in my life, not sitting, and waiting, and thinking, and just struggling to survive. I don't really feel much like that would be personally fruitful for me. Also, particularly in terms of this summer and being back to school now, having a year alone to myself would probably get on my nerves. I could do it because I have no doubts in my willpower, but my biggest regret that I would have to face would be - "Gee, is this really going to pay off? Did I make the right decision?". There is no easy way for me to tell right now, and my instinct is that no I actually would not go through with this.

It seems out of alignment.


It seems too personal, too isolated. I want to work with people, inside of organizations - and to that end, living on an island for a year along seems dramatically unproductive. I want to be globally connected, and yet that smacks of total isolation. I want to work with people from various organizations to accomplish things, not ponder my thoughts alone, for a year.

What will I really gain? "Deep insight that only comes from solitude?" Been there, done that - so to say. Recognition, fame? Ok, but will that help me get where I want? If I am sort of put on a spotlight, and people watch a TV show about it or something, then maybe - so I could encourage awareness of some issues. But it does not really seem like I would gain much from this at all.


So my conclusion is no, I would not do it. It appears extremely unproductive in terms of what I am working towards in my life right now. That year could be spent studying intensely in undergrad so I get out earlier, or studying abroad, or getting into peace corps, or so on. And, right now, I am committed to numerous activities, and abandoning them for that year long event does not sound like an appropriate oppertunity cost. So yes, definitely: I would not go, based on the initial description of the event.

[UDP]

(I edited my response a little)

[Jimbean]

Wait! I did not realize that I would get an extra years salary until I read your reply from UDP.

hmmm, I don't know, probably not because what I want changes from time to time plus there is no one else there. Money does not mean that much to me anyway.

[aka-kitsune]

The question is:

Would you in principle want to give it a try? Why? And if not, why not?

If you have family, partner, etc, try imagine you didn't - the same goes for if you need regular medication, etc.

Sounds like a really attractive offer to me at this point in my life. No stupid obligations, bureacratic red tape, no possible avenue to neurotic compulsive activity to do something about things I can't possibly change... of course I'd need to bring loads of sunblock.

I wonder if I'd last.

[cracka]

Maybe for at least one more years pay and I'd do it. If I had a good year at work financially then I'd probably make more money at the end of the year anyway. On the island i wouldn't have any way to increase what I'd make so I'd be giving up a whole years advancement at work by not being there for that year. So throw one more year on and I'd do it. I'd get bored but I'd deal with it.

[Smilingeyes]

No. It's just an altogether weird proposition. Besides, by slowing down my career by a year I'd still get a net monetary loss, not to mention the time needed to retrain myself upon return.
EDIT: Ok. Still not interested though. I guess the idea that I'd get money hanging on an island just seems silly to me. I've got my own things to do and they don't include islands.

[Expat]

Well, my - admittedly hypothetical and unrealistic - scenario is that career steps and the like would "somehow" not be jeopardized.

[marooned]

I'd do it. It would be an adventure in itself. A life experience.

You almost inspired me with that. I have always wanted to go on an adventure... but I was thinking maybe on a ship/boat with people... But the way you put makes me wonder... Okay, I'm not changing my mind.

[Expat]

Hmm, it seems that the main reason people wouldn't do it is fear of boredom (or loneliness, in Loki's case) or just because they see as pointless.

The financial reward aspect is tricky. If I said no reward at all, only very "idealistic" people would do it. If I had said a huge amount of money, I guess most people would do it. Perhaps the question can be made better by raising/lowering the stakes there.

So far the person who seems most likely to flat-out reject it, regardless of conditions, is Smilingeyes. The person most likely to embrace it is Carla.

What it means, if anything? I don' know (yet?).

[eunice]

I don't think I'm keen in taking up the offer. One year is too long for me to stay on a desert island. As time goes by, I will become uncertain about what lies in the future and whether I have the potential to carry on till the year is over. You never know whether you can win the money until you finally surpassed the last day of the year. I cannot imagine living by the day without much entertainment and information from the outside world. Moreover, imagine how much more I can achieve when I'm living in civilization. I will probably be going through a lot of exciting changes eg. getting a new job, partner, friend etc., in contrast to a mundane lifestyle on the island. Moreover, the prize money should be huge enough to compensate the potential opportunities I had missed out.

[Smilingeyes]

I'd guess alphas in general would be most likely to like the idea on the grounds of adventurousness, probably moreso if the time period was somewhat smaller, like 6 mths so there'd be less time to get bored.
I feel the way people agree or disagree though is more likely to give information than whether they do or don't.
I also think accuracy could be improved if this was a series of tests in the manner of...

Would you go if you were 16 years? If you were 75 and retired? If you could take a friend? If it wasn't an island but a spaceship? How about an arctic exploring station? How about if you did get food for free? And so on.
*shrug* At least there'd be more information.
But I liked the idea behind the question.

[Expat]

I feel the way people agree or disagree though is more likely to give information than whether they do or don't.
I also think accuracy could be improved if this was a series of tests in the manner of...

Would you go if you were 16 years? If you were 75 and retired? If you could take a friend? If it wasn't an island but a spaceship? How about an arctic exploring station? How about if you did get food for free? And so on.
*shrug* At least there'd be more information.

Yes, I agree with that. It works best during a long conversation, as in "ok, so your problem is the one year? What if it was 6 months?" Etc.

[Slacker]

Even assuming I wasn't married and didn't have a kid and therefore wouldn't be in the position of leaving my family, no WAY could I possibly be alone for a whole year. I would go completely crazy. Like drawing a picture on a volleyball to talk to crazy. Beyond that even. I wouldn't be able to survive for a month, let along a year.

[discojoe]

No, I wouldn't. Know why? Because it would be boring as FUCK.

[aestrivex]

i would get bored. i might consider if it if i had a computer full time with all games, a variety of downloaded materials (such as television programs) and an internet connection. however if i'm not allowed to infuse myself with various forms of boredom-killing i would not even consider it. it doesn't even seem reasonable at that unless the financial reward is akin to winning the lottery.

[Ezra]

This time, Expat, I have a definitive answer for you: it would be ABSOULTELY AMAZING. I'd love it. Basically, being thrust into the wild and having to fend for myself sounds like a great deal of fun. It tests me out for what I am. I'd learn new skills - I'd create my own martial arts and stuff like that. I'd do rigorous exercises and meditate every day and come home a better person.

[discojoe]

This time, Expat, I have a definitive answer for you: it would be ABSOULTELY AMAZING. I'd love it. Basically, being thrust into the wild and having to fend for myself sounds like a great deal of fun. It tests me out for what I am. I'd learn new skills - I'd create my own martial arts and stuff like that. I'd do rigorous exercises and meditate every day and come home a better person.

Remember, you don't have to act macho when no one is around.

[Ezra]

Hahahaha, I don't understand you people. You act like I don't enjoy a challenge and I simply put a front on.

[discojoe]

Hahahaha, I don't understand you people. You act like I don't enjoy a challenge and I simply put a front on.

I don't think anything. I was merely perpetuating the joke.

[XoX]

I would not want to give it a try. Here is my analysis.

What I like about it:
- A chance to get rid of the "wheel" and live in a place
which is very detached from the usual boring "real world"
and all the stress and boring day to day mandatory tasks.
The idea of freedom to do what you want when you want without
no external pressure to do this or that at particular times

- I actually like the idea of spending time alone as long as
there are enough interesting things to do. Year is a bit long
time but still perhaps not too long. It depends on whether
there is enough to do to not get bored and start yearning
for other people. I often seek other people when I'm bored
but when I'm busy and entertained I don't.

- I like it that every day offers new experiences and I like
observing the animals and the nature and all the dynamics
involved (at least occasionally, I might get bored in the end)

- I like it how that offers an excellent opportunity to do
a lot of various physical exercise and get in good shape. I could
actually make this one of my primary goals.

- I like it how that offers an opportunity to make money without
spending money leaving a nice surplus at the end of the year (hah a big plus)

What I don't like about it:
- The survival part. The fact that you probably have to spend
quite a lot of time thinking about how you get food to the table.
So you cannot concentrate on the interesting parts (observing nature,
doing sports, exploring the environment, watching the stars, thinking
deep thoughts, *sensored*, whatever). In the end it is the survival part that more
or less kills my interest (assuming that survival at home would require
less effort and be more fun). Then it becomes a burden. If I'd had
a full fridge every day without spending time thinking about survival
then it might make me change my mind. And I seriously dislike building
shelters and all that crap too.

To offer an alternative:
If I had free non-exhaustive source of food, a warm and nice
house with a good shower, a state of the art gaming console with
lots of interesting games, and good physical training facilities
on the island I would surely go. I would love to divide my days to three parts:
walk around exploring and observing the nature, play Oblivion, do sports/training.

However your offer I have to turn down. It would likely end up being more trouble and less fun than
my current life.

So do I come out as the same type as in a similar previous test of yours? (which was ENTp >> ENFP >> other types) or has something changed?

[Minde]

The proposal: to spend one year alone on a tropical desert island, with no loss to your professional/family/study affairs, and you'll get one extra year of your salary at the end (if you don't work, imagine a good but not huge amount of money).

[...]

The question is:

Would you in principle want to give it a try? Why? And if not, why not?

I think it would be okay for maybe a week to a couple of months.

The enticements: Peacefulness. Time to day-dream without interruption and perhaps write them and my other thoughts down. The opportunity to study nature and wildlife, making friends with them. The opportunity to learn how to become more self-sufficient.

The repellents: The biggest one would be lack of people. Though I may often seem like a solitary, boring individual, I actually have quite a lot of contact with others, though it's usually more focussed on a few important people as opposed to a lot of... not as important people. I can spend most of my days alone, but I think something would go wrong inside of me if I didn't have at least one other person around, even if we didn't talk a whole lot. Just... somebody there to touch and see and hear and be with. Probably the next biggest thing would be taking care of myself. Much to my shame, it wouldn't be unlikely that I'd simply forget or lack the impetus to do many of the important things required to shelter and feed myself. For example, it's easy for me to imagine myself getting so wrapped up in following a squirrel around on his adventures that I'd forget to make dinner until midnight when my stomach cramps in hunger, alerting me to my plight. Thirdly, there's also the possibility that I might get bored.

So, taking all of that into account, I'd probably have to say, sorry, but no, maybe another time.

[cracka]

If you were on the island and found something that would take you about a year to build... then that time would fly by. When you're not working on that you can set up coconust in the "phrase of the day" out on the beach for the planes flying overhead.
Imagine looking out the window of a plane and seeing "you suck" written across a beach or "I just pee'd a little from the excitement" or "I did your mom before I got stranded on this island" or "your plane is going to crash" or "i'm making more money than you while writing these phrases."
That would take a good amount of time every morning to complete, I could find things like this to do all day long for a year.

[Minde]

If you were on the island and found something that would take you about a year to build... then that time would fly by. When you're not working on that you can set up coconust in the "phrase of the day" out on the beach for the planes flying overhead.
Imagine looking out the window of a plane and seeing "you suck" written across a beach or "I just pee'd a little from the excitement" or "I did your mom before I got stranded on this island" or "your plane is going to crash" or "i'm making more money than you while writing these phrases."
That would take a good amount of time every morning to complete, I could find things like this to do all day long for a year.

See, that's why having another person, especially one similar to you, would make me decide that it might be ok to be there. I can come up with ideas, or vaguely think of something I want done, but I lack much of the initiative to actually accomplish it. If I had someone like you next to me, prompting me to activity, or even doing a lot of it for me, then I'd be much more likely to be active myself and do fun/useful things like that.

[Mea]

Definitely not gonna go there alone. There's no one to talk to. NO HUMANS! No one to support me if I need help. No one to rant at, no one to listen to, no one to look at.
If there are others there, I might.

[Expat]

Ha, actually answers like the most recent ones - like since Slacker Mom's - were more like what I was hoping for.

Interesting that only a few people thought of the practical aspects of actually going through it. Those who just said "it would be too boring" seem to assume that to actually do it would be a piece of cake. Perhaps in trying to avoid the "Hell in the Pacific" image I ended up softening it too much.

@XoX: no, it's not working as to make me think of an specific type or even quadra. I would say that your answer suggests a strong inclination for Ni (not necessarily Ni dominant), while Cracka's suggests a stronger preference for Ne in his case.

[Suomea]

Too long.... too little money.... too alone.

[discojoe]

Ha, actually answers like the most recent ones - like since Slacker Mom's - were more like what I was hoping for.

Interesting that only a few people thought of the practical aspects of actually going through it. Those who just said "it would be too boring" seem to assume that to actually do it would be a piece of cake. Perhaps in trying to avoid the "Hell in the Pacific" image I ended up softening it too much.

@XoX: no, it's not working as to make me think of an specific type or even quadra. I would say that your answer suggests a strong inclination for Ni (not necessarily Ni dominant), while Cracka's suggests a stronger preference for Ne in his case.

I would be easy, though. Half the difficultly of being in the situation would be learning to stop internally complaining and just suck it up and deal with it. Once you accepted the objective reality of the situation, things would be much more tolerable. I don't see any great difficulty other than boredom, which would be really annoying. I mean, I can tap into my zen if I need to, lol, but I would much rather get drunk and stumble around singing. Also, I have medications and wear contact lenses, so I'd only go if I could take a year's worth of them. I'm also a nutrition nut, and take lots of supplements, so the food there would need to be rich in trace minerals and vitamins or I wouldn't go.

[Not A Communist Shill]

I would definitely do it for two years pay - in fact, I'd do it for nothing, if there is no risk at my other commitments being affected - if I can live for a year without paying bills, and without working in some job which isn't critical my survival, then the year will be opportunity to think about 'things' in great clarity, and just generally relaxing - it would be a bit like retiring early, only with no old age, or monetary concerns. And, when I return to the 'normal' world, I will prolly be a lot wiser then what i would have been, and the island will be a place I can return to mentally when things are going wrong - problems will seem unimportant if I have the knowledge that I can be self-efficient etc. I think I could survive for a year - it would an 'experience', if not an interesting one - I would treat the island like it was my kingdom, which would make it my sand pit . If I can only have 1000 words maximum for reading, I might as well not bother - though The Swiss Family Robinson would be my Bible. I'll build a giant sand castle and create paper out of tree bark or whatever, and then write something important :wink:.