Poll: You must spend a year locked in a room.

[Devias-]

59 percent would rather spend a year alone in a room with video games than with another human being?

What on earth?

Being about to socialize with another person may be better for your sanity. But the odds are highly stacked against them in this scenario.

The belief is that if you choose a human being, there is not much else you can do except talk. Time doesn't pass, so there's no need to sleep, eat, or defecate (which I suppose, if you dochoose a human being, is a major plus in the restricted room) . Additionally, the room is small enough already, why would I choose to have another person cramp with me? Besides, there's no guarantee that he/she won't go insane in a few days. What would do with another human being for a year? Talk? Or.. hmm.

I suppose it depends on how significant this other person is to you. There's no reason to pick a stranger. A celebrity is an option as well but wouldn't that be awkward? A family member is what most users on this forum actively try to get away from. As for a hypothetical significant other, I personally wouldn't condemn her to a year in a locked room. A friend may be the best option, but still, I don't know how close people usually are with their best friends, but for me there's not enough stupidity inside this brain.

If possible, I would pick a pet that you wouldn't have to clean up after. There's still no guarantee I wouldn't kick it after a dozen days worth of company.

After much thought, a pet is still a bad idea. Limited things to do. Video games is probably the best option.

I may or may not be reading too much into this.

 

[En Row]

Doing it with someone for a year would be tiring...so..

VIVA VIDEO GAMES DESU!

 

[VladG]

Option 1: Every video game ever made. And here's why:

An entire year with just one person would, without a shade of doubt, drive me insane (don't care about them, they have the magic reset button. Don't really care even if they don't) While social interaction is great, I generally like to take it in small doses. I like my alone time and I always need to recharge my batteries after prolonged social exposure.

As for the games. Well, frankly they would become boring and tedious after only a few days with nothing else to do and might eventually drive me insane. But having EVERY game out there would probably provide enough variation (graphic novels for when I feel like reading something... I expect there are decent ones out there aside from the hentais) reflex and casual games (mostly wii stuff, or, dunno, guitar hero) to burn extra energy and stretch out the muscles a bit and who knows what other things I might need (guess I was a bit too quick to pick on the hentais). Also as a gamer I would find the added gaming savvy great since there are many games I regret never having played (and likely will never play, for a great many reasons). There is even the possibility of self improvement through educational games (learn a new language perhaps, or perfect a known one, develop math skills... whatever) and even the prospect of trimming out my flabby body by working out and physically exhausting myself when gaming just becomes too tedious.

Frankly I would find the perspective of spending one year in a room with every game/platform ever made an interesting and exciting personal challenge. Certainly not something easy, or very enjoyable, but something that would make me a better person for having successfully passed through it.

Spending one year in a room with another person, whomever that person may be... is my very own personal vision of hell and I dare anyone who would choose a person to try and spend just 3 days locked in a room with said person (allow for toilet breaks and have plenty of food - and food IS a big thing to have, since it's a distraction you normally wouldn't have in the original scenario) with NOTHING else to do, and see how they feel about it afterwards.

 

[FalloutJack]

The one person I can think of whom I'd WANT to spend a year with in a room would probably want the video games to be there as well. So, if she can't notice that I was gone, I'll take the games, thank you.

 

[Doti]

59 percent would rather spend a year alone in a room with video games than with another human being?

What on earth?

It's the Escapist. If anything it's expected.

Anyway, I'd choose a person, it would definitely be an interesting experience, if not always pleasant.

Just think of all the new things you could learn. About that person. About yourself. About human interaction in general. I think it would actually be pretty awesome. Plus, the human mind's imagination is limitless, I'd find that infinitely more compelling than every videogame combined.

EDIT: I can see how my first statement may seem incredibly rude. I assure that was not my intention.

 

[Athol]

If I picked the second option, we'd most likely end up killing each other being forced into each other's company for so long. So I'll go with option 1 and burn through all the classic titles I never got to play.

Damn you, thats pretty much what I was gonna say.

 

[SilentCom]

I would choose video games. I would go crazy if I was stuck in a room with nothing but another person.

 

[trooper6]

59 percent would rather spend a year alone in a room with video games than with another human being?

What on earth?

I don't think it is ethical to kidnap someone and force them to be in a room with you 24/7 for a year.

 

[Myskomunken]

I hope every game ever made comes with every console ever made. And a bigass tv.

 

[Biosophilogical]

How big is this room and is there a potential for the people to kill each other?

Is playing games or interacting with this person the only thing you can do?

This. I mean, if you had a full year of essentially free time, and you had nothing to do but play videogames, I'm pretty sure a fair few of us would use the time to do some of the more mundane things we've been procrastinating. Like getting into shape, or trying meditation, or trying to screw with the sleep cycle (like the 3-4 sets of 2 hour sleeps throughout the day).

OT: I'd pick games, get bored after about a month or two, then get myself into shape (and then some). I mean, a free year? With nothing else to do, and no upcoming commitments to worry about? No worrying about earning money, or making times for a social life, or studying for an exam, or etc etc.

 

[Doti]

59 percent would rather spend a year alone in a room with video games than with another human being?

What on earth?

I don't think it is ethical to kidnap someone and force them to be in a room with you 24/7 for a year.

I don't think it's ethical either, but I think most people are disregarding that and treating this and a hypothetical case? Or maybe I'm wrong. I just think of it as "what I would rather do in that room given those two choices".

 

[diggy140892]

Video games. One person after a month..... that wouldn't end well. Unless the sex is really good and she has the greatest personality ever. But no internet, shoot me now, lol.

Pretty much exactly this.

 

[CrystalShadow]

I can't come up with a person I'd trust to be around for that long...

And the first option sounds quite similar to large parts of my life anyway... So, eh. With just those two options...

I'd go with the games.

 

[maddness666]

The human being. For a variety of reasons. Primarily because I'd get bored of the gaming. There are only so many I could play before the began to blend together and I became disinterested in the entire medium. The human mind however is the gift that keeps on giving. And in my experience people are only ever boring when you've got better things to do.

 

[Ein987]

A person.
I have no reason why, just go with it.

 

[tobi the good boy]

probably the second option, simply because I get bored of games rather quickly if I can't communicate while playing them.
In all honesty I'd probably just sleep a lot in the room

PS: How big is this room?

 

[Agarth]

I can't believe I'm saying this but I think I'd prefer to spend the time with another person. There are several reasons that I say this.
Why not the video games? Well, if I spent the year playing them I'd start to be able to massacre the NPCs with no difficulty. It's only when I get back to fighting actual people in, for example, TF2 that I realize how bad I really suck. Plus I might, God forbid, start to miss other human beings for once in my life. It's only from playing with others that you can truly learn to play a multiplayer focused game properly. Also despite what I might say in the future, there are actually people I like and, occasionally, love. (Usually of the female gender, because they're generally not twats that will T-bag on kill.) Also, can this anybody even be a character from DnD? My friends make good DnD characters.

 

[VladG]

Oh, and here's another way to look at it: Human VS Games:

"The infinite imagination of the human mind"- sure, another human could technically come up with an infinite amount of things to do... in theory. In reality you are generally stuck to your own mind frame and won't really come up with that much stuff. As for games, you are tasting the same "infinite imagination", but instead of being subject to one incredibly annoying mind (and trust me, after he/she proposes the same stupid guessing/word/staring game for the 32nd time it will be annoying) you get to experience the imagination of countless game designers, artists, etc.

1-0 for games

"Getting to know someone else": Ok, sure, if you're in there with a loved one you'd get valuable time to get to know them... the first 2 days. How long do you think it takes for a person to talk about them? How long do you thing you'll last before you've heard the same thing over and over and over and over again? How much do you think you'll actually learn about the person since most stuff we do find out about others is generally by observing them in their life situations, rather than just talking about it. Also how much do you REALLY want to know someone? You have 365 days to share, and you'd be hard pressed to fill 10 of those with interesting things. Then it's down to "guess what colour poop I had 2 weeks ago? Yes, it *was* green". With games you actually get a better chance of learning about other people and learning about yourself, since there are even now games out there that challenge our minds and perceptions of ourselves and others. Think of how you get to know an ally in a game like Dragon Age - through conversation, and through their actions in different situations. Sure, it's not a REAL person, but then again you are not confined to a SINGLE boring entity. It's impossible not to find someone you like in all the games out there.

2-0 for games

"Physical contact" well sure, a person does win here. Touching, hugging, sex(did I mention the Hentai games?), fighting (and you'd better hope he/she's saner than you and not stronger, since you might just end up the vent of the other person's frustration for being locked up with you for so long), dancing or really any kind of positive human contact can't be in any way matched by the games. But the same is true for the negative stuff. Having rules of conduct wouldn't really help, since it relies on both people actually observing them, and there is NO real guarantee that either will do so. The other person might just crack and start doing horrible things to you. Your games will not. I call it a tie

3-1 for games.

"Neediness": Your games have no needs. You play them when you feel like it, how you feel like it. A person might want to talk when you don't, a person might feel like singing when you're trying to spend a moment with yourself. Or the opposite, you might feel like doing something and the other one won't. In short, a person will have needs and free will, games won't

4-1 for games

There. Empirical evidence that people suck.

 

[Sean Steele]

Hell I would have taken. "Just Skyrim."