I'd binge watch The Twilight Zone on my TV.

What would do — Athena

Despair.

Wine and chocolate! TV and popcorn!

What would do if something awful happened and as far as you know, you are the only one to survive? — Athena

I don't know how I'd feel if it were for real, but it gives me enormous peace of mind to imagine all people gone and only me to potter about in an empty world.

I don't know how I'd feel if it were for real, but it gives me enormous peace of mind to imagine all people gone and only me to potter about in an empty world. — Tom Storm

Not in this case:

What is it? Not available in my country.

Not as impactful as the longer clip but you get the point ha:

Not in this case: — schopenhauer1

My very first thought :-)

I'd also spend time with a pig! :party:

Too much of a stretch for my declining imagination.

Establish if there is anyone else.Establish how safe from what had removed everyone else. Initially spend little time feeling and thinking of internal stuff.....of course, the circumstances will influence actions and reactions.
curious smile

Later, wonder if it's a dream and thereby accept it is not.
smle

Please watch this movie, called "Safe". Here's a clip with relaxing music overlaying the clip:



https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safe_(1995_film)

Isolating because of COVID sounds like a realtively short stint. You'll be fine. And here is as good a place as any to find (virtual) human company.

I'd binge watch The Twilight Zone on my TV. — Shawn

Did you see the episode where there was a guy that got isolated on an abandoned island, which was suddenly evacuated because of--as it turned out--unfounded fears of a tsunami? And somehow he was the only one who got left behind--can't remember why--but there is loads of food around and no issue of physical survival etc. He's just on his own and expects to be for a long time, the other inhabitants having permanently relocated.

Anyhow, being desperate for company, he gets lonely and builds a "friend" from papier mache and bits of wood and stuff (it's a little bit of a plot hole that he couldn't just find a shop mannequinn or something, but anyway). It ends up looking like a kind of scarecrow, but with lighted eyes as he's connected up two Christmas tree bulbs in the head. So, he builds this basic Frankensteinish friend to take the edge of his loneliness and starts talking to it, but it's not enough. He still finds the loneliness too hard to bear.

As a next step, he starts to tape record himself having conversations in two voices, his own and this other attempt at a voice of his new "friend" (turns out fairly creepy of course) and then he deletes the half that's his voice and puts the tape recorder in the Frankenstein head and waits a while and then puts it on play. So, now he's sort of talking to the thing during the silences that he created by deleting his part of the "conversation". Firstly, it's mostly small talk: he has the friend asking him questions about his day and so on, and it kind of works for a while, but then he gets bored with that because he remembers what the friend is going to say and what he said on the original recording, so there's no novelty or suspense to the conversation.

He tries to get round this by making multiple tapes, so many that he can't remember exactly what's on each one and then he puts a random one into the head. But he still sort of remembers, and he has to, actually, because if he completely loses the thread of the conversation, his "friend's" side will stop making sense. So, he's kind of stuck in this tradeoff between novelty / authenticity and the necessity for artificiality, as he is always essentially talking to himself. This gets really frustrating and in a fit of pique one night he destroys the "friend", ripping the head off and smashing the tape recorder inside.

Here's the thing, when he wakes up the friend is back together. There's a POV scene of him opening his eyes and at the end of the bed, the friend with his flashing christmas-tree-light eyes looking straight at the protagonist. Pretty creepy. Then, you probably guessed it, the friend starts talking independently. "Why did you do that to me?" "I'm your only friend" this kind of thing and he also answers the main protagonist when the latter talks back to him: "Are you real?" >> "Yes!"

So, the guy is freaked out now... But, at last he has someone else, independent of him, to talk to, a "real" friend (even though he considers he may have gone crazy, he figures "who cares"? he's achieved his goal). So, the story seems to be about to end moe or less happily.

The twist is, and, again, you may have guessed, he hasn't actually gone crazy. It's just there was one other person who got left behind, who had been watching the guy all along and had put the dummy back together with a microphone that he speaks through. He too needed a friend. Turns out (revealed through flashback) this guy had been the source of the false tsunami warning that caused the island to be evacuated (because he was a misanthropist who wanted to be completely alone). However, when he achieved his goal (except for the accident of the other one person, the main protagonist, also being left behind), he found he also needed human company, but couldn't face the protagonist due to his guilt at what he'd done and the shame of realizing he really did need other human beings, despite his misanthropy. The Frankenstein "friend" somehow solves both their problems.

The last bit of the script is the main protagonist saying to his friend "You've got to pomise me one thing. There's only two of us, you and me, and you're my only friend. Never leave me. Do you promise?"

Then we get a close-up of the face of the guy speaking through the microphone. He pauses. He doesn't know how to answer.

The End.

Sounds like Cast Away to a great deal. Then again there's always ChatGPT to therapize yourself with. Who thought that they call Google also another friend.

Then again since Big brother is around and about, one must become more paranoid.

Modern version would definitely grapple ChatGPT / Big Brother rather than tape recorders / hidden "friends".

Edit: I've never seen "Cast Away", so I don't know.

Edit: Just read the plot of that movie. The "Wilson" plot device may have been inspired by the above TZ episode.

Emotional bonding with animals.

Well, now time passed and now it seems
Everybody’s having them dreams
Everybody sees themselves
Walkin’ around with no one else
Half of the people can be part right all of the time
Some of the people can be all right part of the time
But all of the people can’t be all right all of the time
I think Abraham Lincoln said that
“I’ll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours”
I said that

Talkin’ World War III Blues
WRITTEN BY: BOB DYLAN

Guy's a poet, so what d'you expect. Me, I'm more realistic. I'm keeping stum because there's no one left to talk to. I might sing some of the old songs though, now and then.

I am isolating because of COVID and about to lose my mind. I have a question for you.

What would do if something awful happened and as far as you know, you are the only one to survive? — Athena

It would free the world up for exploration. No zone, aside from apparent risks, is a no-go zone any longer.

You can always do art projects or read, if those things are fun and you're not consigned to one room. Recently discovered ice tie dye. Though there be so many things to do (or nothing at all) if I was the last person on earth.

I assume that those were painted by you. They are very beautiful! Good job. I have three similar paintings in the hall of my parent's house. I like this Indian or Middle Asian art expression. 

I see you kept the blue colour in both, but interacting with other colours. Is blue your favourite colour then?

I assume that those were painted by you. — javi2541997

It is dyed cloth, using cold water dyes (procion) under melting ice. The mandala is very similar to making snowflakes out of paper. You fold natural cloth that has been soaked in soda ash into eighths or sixteenths, bind sections with twine, apply dye either via bottles or on top of ice. Just a version of tie dye.

The surprise aspect, not knowing what to expect makes it a bit addictive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=tpUR035WZsA

It is dyed cloth, using cold water dyes (procion) under melting ice. — Nils Loc

That rocks! :cool:

Did you see the episode where there was a guy that got isolated on an abandoned island, which was suddenly evacuated because of--as it turned out--unfounded fears of a tsunami? And somehow he was the only one who got left behind--can't remember why--but there is loads of food around and no issue of physical survival etc. He's just on his own and expects to be for a long time, the other inhabitants having permanently relocated. — Baden

Thank you for the interesting story. That was a lot of work putting in all those words so I feel sincerely cared for. You relayed a sense of comprehension of my unpleasant feelings of Isolation and that meets my need to communicate with someone. I am thinking something philosophical could be said.

Last night I watched an anthropology professor's lectures about primates and humans. And after reading your story, I thought if I were truly isolated I would look for a library. I once worked for the University of Oregon library in the microfilm department when it was in the basement and they had the original newspapers. My job was to microfilm them and I had such a sense of connection with all the souls who lived in the past.

I have a video made by a man who lived alone for many years by a lake in Alaska. He had a few human contacts who would bring his supplies but most of the time he was truly isolated. I am in awe of his ability to do that!

Yesterday and today I had negative COVID test results so I am out of isolation. I am out of prison. :grin: I am not sure if I feel so much better because my health is better or if I feel so much better for psychological reasons. I just know my mental health today is a whole lot better. :grin:

You're very welcome! I have to admit it's not really a TZ episode. I was pranking Shawn on that bit (as with the two follow-ups in the Shoutbox). I made the story up myself, inspired by your thread. So, thank you for the inspiration!

The idea of finding a library sounds good to me. I wonder if I would write though, without the expectation anyone would ever read it. That turns into a kind of philosophical question on the value of art, I think.

Anyhow, great to hear you are -ve COVID and feeling good. :party: :smile:

Then again since Big brother is around and about, one must become more paranoid. — Shawn

:lol: No thank you! I am having a very visceral reaction to what you said. I am also thinking of a professor's lectures about philosophy and the Intelligence of Emotion. I did not stop and think through what you said. I just immediately felt dread and thought I would rather be totally alone compared to the only other being, being a Big Brother that is as totally impersonal as some mods in other forums. What is that relationship and emotion of rejecting the possibility of existing with Big Brother? Why is that worse than complete aloneness?

The idea of finding a library sounds good to me. I wonder if I would write though, without the expectation anyone would ever read it. That turns into a kind of philosophical question on the value of art, I think. — Baden

Never give up hope! I am quite sure I would write with the hope that someday my written record would be found by another earthline or maybe a being from another planet. Such thoughts being helped by TV shows like Star Trek. Philosophically, my imagination is pretty good, so I might be able to keep myself motivated with that hope.

It is obvious to me how helpful the Bible is to people who can have faith. I think, how we experience life is very tied to self-talk. You know the saying "It isn't what happens to you that matters, but you make of it". It is so hard to know if I feel psychologically awful because of what I think, or are my hormones running the show, causing me to feel good or bad. I tend to be my worst enemy, beating myself up if I don't force myself to be positive. While people who have faith have a mental trick that can actually be very helpful. Like Robin Crusoe. Such classical novels can be helpful to us and some prisons have found the classics can correct the population who need a better perspective on life.

Congradulations for writing such a good story.

You can always do art projects or read, if those things are fun and you're not consigned to one room. Recently discovered ice tie dye. Though there be so many things to do (or nothing at all) if I was the last person on earth. — Nils Loc

I can work with that. I actually love walking along the river and communing with nature. Some days I am overwhelmed by appreciation of the beauty of nature. I have reacted to trees as beings in a different form and you hit upon a very important point! I wanted to walk along the river but didn't want to wear a mask, nor risk exposing someone to the virus so I was confining myself to my apartment.

On the good side, the confinement led to better organizing and I want to continue the effort of making my living space more attractive. Yes! to hell with the rules against putting holes in the walls. I have a large picture that absolutely has to go on the wall. I don't even want to go through the winter months without some improvements. Thank you for opening my mind to the possibilities. :heart:

I might sing some of the old songs though, now and then. — unenlightened

I started watching movies I don't normally watch and kicking up feelings I was not aware of having, and crying to cleanse my soul. With nothing to distract us can we avoid soul searching or do we even want to?

Wine and chocolate! TV and popcorn! — Shawn

Ah, want kind of wine goes best with chocolate?

I would love the popcorn and a movie, but must void it because it put me in the hospital twice. Diverticulosis, means avoiding food that may not easily digest, popcorn, nuts, seeds. It usually takes 3 days with an IV in my arm to break the dam, and by the third day I am ready to kill if they don't let me out! Like they won't even let me have chocolate or a cup of coffee! :scream:

I have a do not resuscitate order because if I can not get on with my life, I don't want to keep breathing. I used to think if I could at least play computer games I could manage but my experience is a 3-day limit and the homeless guy I befriended, ended up confined to a hospital bed and incapable of communicating more than "yes'"or "no" for about a year before he passed. Visiting with him through that changed my mind. Let me go!

Oh my goodness! What an awful horror story! That was not fair.