My fellow Philosophers.

[dutch madman]

Okay, so ever since i was a kid, i've been studying human behavior quite a bit, so you could say my views are rather more Anthropologic/Sociological.

This caused an idea, which can truly change my life.

When i have vacation from work, in about 6/7 weeks, i will lock myself up in the garage with nothing more then paper, and all that comes with it, pens, pencils, paint, etcetera. I will not listen to any music, won't read the news, i shall not watch tv, nor listen to normal radio. I will be totally isolated for the course of a week.
Now, my biggest concerns is that i'll go batshit insane, because probably like most of you, i have some mental issues which could snap if i'm all alone. I'm completely aware of the risk i could be taking, but i'm still asking for some guidance/ideas on what to do.

Should i record a summary of each day? Perhaps as a mental distraction, so i won't go completely insane in isolation. Or should i just record random parts during the actual day, to see how i'm living with the situation?

The idea itself is so attractive in many ways, but i'd like to know how you, as an outsider, see this idea, if i were to document it trough video and text, how would you rather see it come together? And what do you think could be the risks of going trough with this project?

I'm going to do this no matter what, since i feel tangled up mentally, and i need to sort my shit out, i'm just curious how you guys see the whole ordeal.

[Fudopi]

What I think you should do is just write little notes every so often when something new/interesting come to mind.

It seems like we'd really get to see what goes through your mind when your 100% cut off if you jsut made little notes like that.

[Lakai.]

Sounds interesting, but dang... kind of suck to use up your vacation on that though.

[dutch madman]

Sounds interesting, but dang... kind of suck to use up your vacation on that though.

Why is that? Self-experimentation is one of my favourite things to do, no matter when, if i take a week off, i'll have 7 days to do whatever the fuck i want, because only i will make up the rules. I'm more interested in the end result, and it's actually a rather creative way to fill up my free week.

It might not be standard, but goddamn, this whole project sounds so appealing to me, haha.

[Iskatehard]

Sounds like a fucking rough trial if you asked me. I wish you the best of luck with it =/

I'd say bring a pen and paper for sure.. Perhaps a voice recorder would be a good idea too.. And a video camera as well.. I'd say if you wanted to really document it for others to check out and to look on afterward after some social life has been restored.. I would think your voice and tone as well as expressions when sharing some thoughts would be very significant in trying to understand.. At least for people who are checking it out anyway.

It also seems like it'd be hard to pull off.. What with needing to get food and water constantly and toiletries and all..

edit-

And I don't know if I'd set a specific time. Take it day by day and week by week.. You might find yourself wanting to stay longer.. Just try to be sure you can convince yourself to stay in even when it gets a little rough and weird, which will likely happen quickly.

[HUnGary_SAmUraI]

yea, dude I lived in an apartment with nothing but like a gallon of milk, lslices of ham and toilet paper, I was losing it after one night, without a reasonable amount of stimulation it's easy to flip out ha

I really think if you wanna work things out in your head, it helps to keep your mind stimulated, otherwise whatever you're trying to think out is just going to become more complicated and confusing, but everyone is different man so I can't really say, but I don't really see a point in documenting doing nothing, but I would just document your changes in behavior and desires and types of things you think about you know, that could be pretty interesting

[Zeroskater11]

That survivorman guy does this in the most brutal conditions known to man, he has nothing but the clothes on his back and filming equipment. Should be quite an interesting experiment if you do it from the mental aspect opposed from the "surviving" aspect he does.

What are you going to do about things such as food and drink? Bathroom?

[drowning_fish]

Except this is prolly way more intense and brave than the fucking survivormanguy - the reason most people would go through such physical stress would either be for the money, or cause they have some serious mental problems they want to distract themselves from.

Maybe I could try this too at the same time, and we could compare. I'd have to see what I'm doing in 6/7 weeks though.

You could also try talking continuously to the same person for a week. I'd be up to try that too, haha. (I'm reminded of Allen Ginsberg's and Neal Cassady's characters in On the Road where they'd sit and just talk back and forth for HOURS.)

(thinking of it, this is basically putting yourself in prison for a week. and people when they go to prison either go crazy or are enlightened, or both..?)

[salvemaster]

I think it's an interesting project, and i too find self-experimentation to be very enlightening. But on the other hand, just make sure you know what you want from this, yaknow? Like, it's one thing to lock yourself in a garage with the intent to do something great with the duress of isolation, it's another thing just to lock yourself in a garage.

So yeah, i think you got something here. I'm not working this summer so i got plenty of down time; i might even try something along these lines.

All in all, i'd say go for it. Maybe throw in some music? Idk, depends on what you're going for, but fuck man i like it. Sometimes the laziest things are the bravest, yaknow? Deff post what you come up with, make a thread outta it.

[dutch madman]

I'll say it again, i will bring lots of papers, canvas, paint and pencils, my only stimulation will be my own inspiration, perhaps you can see me breaking down when more drawings/paintings start to come, in terms of extreme changes in style, perhaps the subject i'm drawing or painting.

I will buy simple food before i start, as well as drinks, i can always go inside to go to the bathroom, or i can do that stuff in a bag of some sort. I'll try to keep myself isolated as long as i can, and i WILL finish the week, no matter the results i'll get.

Thing is, i'm also doing this to figure out who i am, what i want, and in what kind of situation i feel more comfortable in. I've always had a thing for squatting, so i'm used to big, empty spaces with nothing but myself, perhaps a few friends, this time though, i'm going to be on my own, in a small room. I mean, if art seems to be my thing, fuck my normal life, i'd quit my job, get back into squatting, and try to make a living trough my art.

I'll take one of those battery-mp3 players, with a battery half charged, so if i REALLY need music, i'd have to consider how long i can listen to it, but for the biggest part of the journey, i'm on my own.

Drowning fish, that'd be awesome, haha, perhaps all of us could try this one time, and we'll make a thread dedicated to this, where we share our stories, very much like the ''This is i who stand before you'' thread? Hell, we could even make a thread where we ''dare'' each other to try something that has to do with self experimentation, where everyone would get a different task for a few days/a week, and we'll try to figure out how or why it has a certain effect (or not), and in what way it should be interpreted. We can actually really learn about ourselves, and humans as a whole.


I'm totally up for that idea, how about you guys? We could make a Philosophers user group, where we'll discuss the tasks, and the risks it takes with them?

[Snake]

I remember reading the Dharma bums and thought it was cool how Kerouac's character basically did what you're doing and isolated himself on top of a mountain in a fire look out for a few months.

I've always wanted to try it, haha but then I think of the shining.

[rean2]

interesting, extreme meditating, reminds me of those shows where people leave the city and live in the woods for a year only using whats available
how long are u staying in there for? during the whole vacation?
anyway good luck

[Tony]

This seems epic, but are you gonna be in there 6-7 weeks wat?

I actually have no advice I'm just reading and checking where this thread will go.

[Iskatehard]

I really think self-experimentation ideas like this are really good.. Really, the best way to learn anything is through experience... And I believe there are parts to ourselves that we can live an entire life without ever noticing, just constantly overlooking because our lifestyle causes us to overlook them.

I sort of think I'd like to try something myself soon.. But then again, I think everybody should take time of their life once in a while and do things like that.. Fuck learning about other things sometimes, I'd like to learn about myself.. And I'm the only person in the world that can teach me that stuff.. So, I should probably try to build a better relationship with myself, if that makes any sense.

I don't think I'll try to solitude thing mentioned here though... I guess I need to figure out exactly what about myself I want to learn, and then come up with a plan based on that. If I think anything, I'll tell you guys though.

[chinawomansayugh]

i would never do this lol.......think of everything else you could be doing instead of this.....i just dont like the thought of doing this basically for yourslf for no real apparent reason than to find more out about yourself.......id rather fucking voulntere in the peace core and help some people out (but i think that takes up more time than a week) or a soup kitchen or something in that sort.............idk, i just dont like this idea, but you can do w/e you want

[Iskatehard]

It's not so much "think about what you could be doing instead" but rather "think about what you WOULD be doing instead"..

And for most of us.. That "would" is sitting on the couch watching television, playing video games, and the such. Which is good, we're not exactly in "the most responsible" time of our life right now, if you will. Fuck, you might eventually find you will never really have a time again to allow yourself to be completely introverted like this.. So take advantage of it while you can, I say.

And "What you COULD be doing" is applicable to every thing. Think about what you 'could' be doing rather than chillin' on SBC. But hey, fuck it, "could" doesn't matter.

[drowning_fish]

I like the idea for a thread of self-experimentation

(Also, weird thing is, I've actually been fighting with myself, wondering if I should be focusing on art and writing and music as well, which is some coincidence..)

THis'll be dope, I'ma bring a guitar, tabla, paper, pens, pencils, typewriter, that's it. I don't want music cause that'd probably end up as kind of an escape from yourself, you know?

[Fudopi]

See without music, I have no idea what I'd do throughout the day. I mean, I"m pretty much listening to music or making it non stop. even when I'm watching TV, if it's not MTV Jams, I have other music in the background...

I'd probably go insane if I tried this.

I dunno though.

maybe I will some day.

just to see what will happen.

[Iskatehard]

Shit.. I'm starting to think with my social life the way it is now, it'd be more experimental to actually get out more often and socialize more.

I'm thinking about saving up some money and going on a walk... A very long walk.

Perhaps find a far destination that looks good.. And get shit together that I will need, and just walk to it.. Only problem I might see is doing so could be dangers, as well as hard to bring all my supplies I'd need, especially a tent and such.

But still, the idea seems so nice to me. Pick somewhere that might take a week to walk to, and then walk back taking a different route.. Making effort to visit congested areas and meet people I otherwise might not ever meet.


Sorta sketchy of an idea, I think.. I'll polish it up a bit, I'm sure.. But I really sorta want to do that. With the way my life is now, I just am not social.. Not because I hate people or some shit.. Just because it gets so boring to me.. There is no motivation. Perhaps this will open up a door and help me appreciate the variety of people this world holds, and motivate me to socialize more often.. Because I'm not, and I feel like I really do need to.

[Marevix]

Shit.. I'm starting to think with my social life the way it is now, it'd be more experimental to actually get out more often and socialize more.

I'm thinking about saving up some money and going on a walk... A very long walk.

Perhaps find a far destination that looks good.. And get shit together that I will need, and just walk to it.. Only problem I might see is doing so could be dangers, as well as hard to bring all my supplies I'd need, especially a tent and such.

But still, the idea seems so nice to me. Pick somewhere that might take a week to walk to, and then walk back taking a different route.. Making effort to visit congested areas and meet people I otherwise might not ever meet.


Sorta sketchy of an idea, I think.. I'll polish it up a bit, I'm sure.. But I really sorta want to do that. With the way my life is now, I just am not social.. Not because I hate people or some shit.. Just because it gets so boring to me.. There is no motivation. Perhaps this will open up a door and help me appreciate the variety of people this world holds, and motivate me to socialize more often.. Because I'm not, and I feel like I really do need to.

Not a bad idea, except for the walking part. Get a bike. Walking sucks ass.

[awqaw]

What I think you should do is just write little notes every so often when something new/interesting come to mind.

It seems like we'd really get to see what goes through your mind when your 100% cut off if you jsut made little notes like that.

exactly what i was thinking.

btw i bet it would be SO hard to pull off

[drowning_fish]

It's sitting in a room, how hard could it be? haha

BUUUUT I just actually remembered, me and my friend have been planning on an epic quest for at least a month or two now, but we have no ideas as to what to do. It'll prolly involve hitchhiking, lots of walking, lots of shitty gas-station burritos, maybe we'll try freight-hopping, lots of fun. We might just pick a direction and just go with that direction, and whenever one of us has an idea we will do it, no matter what. Unless it's terribly illegal and/or dangerous and/or disgusting (and we have a lot of terribly illegal and disgusting thoughts, both of us). ie. if we see cows and we decide we HAVE to ride the cows, we will do that. No drugs, no alcohol, just two kids and a bunch of blood and oxygen we need to use for SOMETHING. It'll be dope.

I'll bring a sketchbook or two and try to do a sketch everyday and when we're back I'll scan them somehow and post them up here. Or I might make a zine with them and I can mail them to whoever's interested. But scanning sounds better, maybe not. shit I don't know. I might do both.

[dutch madman]

Shit.. I'm starting to think with my social life the way it is now, it'd be more experimental to actually get out more often and socialize more.

I'm thinking about saving up some money and going on a walk... A very long walk.

Perhaps find a far destination that looks good.. And get shit together that I will need, and just walk to it.. Only problem I might see is doing so could be dangers, as well as hard to bring all my supplies I'd need, especially a tent and such.

But still, the idea seems so nice to me. Pick somewhere that might take a week to walk to, and then walk back taking a different route.. Making effort to visit congested areas and meet people I otherwise might not ever meet.


Sorta sketchy of an idea, I think.. I'll polish it up a bit, I'm sure.. But I really sorta want to do that. With the way my life is now, I just am not social.. Not because I hate people or some shit.. Just because it gets so boring to me.. There is no motivation. Perhaps this will open up a door and help me appreciate the variety of people this world holds, and motivate me to socialize more often.. Because I'm not, and I feel like I really do need to.

This is exactly what i'm going to do the week after my isolation, socialisation. I could try to hook up at random bars for a place overnight, and/or carry a tent with me. I'm pretty stoked for that too.

[Iskatehard]

Yeah, it really seems like it'd be fun to just sort of explore and see what kind of people you can meet.

I kinda wanted to carry a tent with me and shit.. But it seems like that would just be a major pain in the ass to carry, and really make the actual traveling aspect of it all much harder, so sorta fucking the whole thing up...

[dutch madman]

Yeah, it really seems like it'd be fun to just sort of explore and see what kind of people you can meet.

I kinda wanted to carry a tent with me and shit.. But it seems like that would just be a major pain in the ass to carry, and really make the actual traveling aspect of it all much harder, so sorta fucking the whole thing up...

True, you could always take advantage of your surroundings for a place to sleep, make a shack from branches and twigs, that way, you'll only have to carry a blanket and something that can be used as a pillow around. Or, like i said, try to meet someone who's willing to offer you a place to sleep.

[drowning_fish]

Haha, I guess I'm doing it backwards than you then. I guess our (me and my friend's) epic quest could be considered a 'socialization' thing, cause we're GOING to meet people, hitching, for sure, and generally we seem to attract weirdos.

Related - I'm moving to Iowa this fall (for college) and I know no one there save my dad's old professor who won't remember me anyway and whose classes I'm not going to take. SO I'm going to have to socialize there too. I'll try something. I'm planning on going through the dorms in the middle of the night with a guitar and singing songs, although that's not much of a philosophical or sociological experiment or anything, it's mostly for fun and hopefully to make friends or enemies. haha.

:edit: Also, about shelter, just bring a sleeping bag, one of the light mummy ones. They're not that heavy and it's pretty easy to rig up to a normal backpack DIY. Then it's just common sense and/or being clever/smart as to where to place yourself - in urban areas try to get onto a rooftop or somewhere elevated so bums and crackheads don't take your stuff or whatever they might do. In suburbs I'd say find a park or a school, in like wilderness or something find a road and sleep near there, etc. You don't need a tent and a campfire and a portable stove and shit if you're just going out for a week. Actually if I was going out even longer I'd still just take a sleeping bag just cause I hate carrying stuff.

AND bring water!

[John Kills People]

I am thinking about planning a long meditation period this fall. (Couple days straight at least.)

I have never really meditated before, but I am pretty strung out and I have my problems like everyone else so I think it might be good for me.

Tell me how this works out for you.

[Iskatehard]

Hm.. Seems a lot of people are into ideas like this. Maybe the creation of that group you mentioned Dutch would be a good idea.. I'd enjoy having somewhere to go to read up on what other people are trying to do and such.


I've been thinking myself.. I want to come up with some way of like.. Taking a portion of my lifetime and just using myself as a camera, if you would.

I want to go around and just watch people do things.. But while I do so, I want to try to completely get rid of all my personal preferences and such. Just observe as many acts of people as I can without making it something else in my mind.

It's hard to explain. I kind of want to escape myself and live if it makes sense. I want to just throw aside what I think is right and wrong, ugly and pretty, ect.. Just observe reality in the truest form that might be possible.. Without any preferences. I just wanna forget what I look like and forget who I am for a bit..

Just because more and more I convince myself "reality" is created by subjective validity and we constantly rely on our personal preferences to decide what to and not to do, and we use said preferences all the time when we observe others.. I just want to kind of look at everything as neutral, if you will.. And see what humanity might look like then.

Of course, I'm not quite sure yet HOW to do something like that. Fuck, it might not even be possible. I guess all I can do is just try to watch and be unbiased in my thoughts, but I feel even if I really think I am being so, I'll really be using preferences of my own to sum shit up..