This hypothetical keeps circulating on social media like some kind of impossible challenge. A month in a cabin with food, water, and firewood but no internet, phone, or TV. The reward: $100,000.
I need everyone to understand something. I would do this for free. You're offering to pay me?
I've spent two decades in tech. I've answered "quick questions" at 11pm. I've debugged production issues on Christmas morning. I've felt my soul leave my body during the fourth video call of the day where someone shares their screen to show me an email they could have just forwarded. My nervous system has been marinated in Teams notifications for so long that I twitch when I hear any sound vaguely resembling a ping.
A month of enforced silence sounds less like a challenge and more like a prescription.
The comments on these posts always fascinate me. "I could never do it." "I'd go crazy." And I think... would you? Or have we just forgotten what our brains feel like without the constant dopamine drip of notifications? I'm genuinely not sure I remember what boredom feels like. Real boredom. The kind that eventually transforms into creativity or rest or just staring at trees like some kind of functioning mammal.
So yes. I would absolutely do this. I'd walk into that cabin like I was checking into a spa.
The only real question is whether they'd have to drag me out at the end.
Top comments (10)
The main problem would be staying in the cabin. I like to go outside. I prefer a bike because then the scenery changes quicker than on foot. When I'm on dog walks I have to mix up routes because doing the same route every day is so boring.
The loophole I see is books. Put me in a cabin with all sorts of books and a month will be bearable. I think after a month I'm going to need to travel two months to get the sedentary month out of my system.
I am a jogger myself so I get it. Solid loophole though. I could finally get through that stack of books I've been meaning to read for the last five years...
Yeah, this situation is too lame… reminds me of the young guy from “White Lotus” who was addicted to gadgets but then stayed away from everything to just simply row a canoe daily…
On that matter, everyone still needs to pay the bills, raise kids and whatnot, so money question is not avoidable. But I’d definitely stay in the cabin for my salary while being freed up from daily standups and world news 💯
White Lotus was good. But agreed, activites needed.
Maybe like this?
Day1: 😀
Day3: 😕
Day7: 😨
Day14: 🤩
😂 I think you might be right.
Are books allowed? Asking for a friend :P
😂
It says nothing about computers or satelite phones. Also being behind NAT hardly counts as being connected to the Internet for true geeks, so dial-up over satelite phone could be accpetable substitute for 1 month...
I would totally do this for free as well.