An interesting question for the five or so followers I have who actually leave comments:
Let's say the end of the world as we know it is coming — but someone offers you a priceless spot in their guaranteed-to-be-safe bunker, so you can be one of the chosen few who rebuilds the Earth. Would you want to survive, and emerge into the post-apocalyptic wasteland? Would the positives of playing a role in a new society outweigh the loss of creature comforts? Or would you rather just go out with the majority of the human race? (Source.)
My answer? Not just no, but hell no—especially if my loved ones were gone.
Is it a GAY bunker? If yes, then hell I'm in for the ride!
Part of me says "Yes", and part says "No". The "yes" part comes from that whole being prepared mentality that I grew up with. That, and I'd like to start some new religion. (*snark!*) The "No" part comes from the fact that there'd probably be no porn left to watch. 😉
On the one hand, it would be a challenge to test the knowledge I have accumulated over 67 years. On the other, it would be a bitch to be without family and friends.
"The burden of civilization is upon us." "Bitch'n! Ain't it?" – favorite 80's movie, Night of the Comet
I'd pull up a beach chair and a cooler of margaritas and enjoy the show.
First question, how long do I have to be in the bunker? I literally die at the thought of a closed in space. If I had my own bedroom like a Lost in Space capsule…perhaps. My sense of curiosity at the post world is very strong….ok I'll go on to survive.
I would rather not survive. If I can't get my medications I'm going to die anyway, besides who the hell wants to be expected to repopulate the planet? No thanks.
I'd be up on the roof embracing the blast. I think the living would eventually envy the dead.
If the bunker was filled with hairy redheads I would be very conflicted.
I would probably rather die out, unless there were quite a few spaces, in which case I could help with music after the apocalypse.
Nope. I want to go in the initial nuclear blast.
I don't think I have anything a New Society would need or "like" as a founding father… So I am not entierly certain I would be even welcomed in this New Noah's Ark… Maybe a sample of my DNA would be ok, but as a person, I would be more a burden then anything else…
Going with the feel of the thought experiment that none of my loved ones will be coming with:
I would still go ahead. I would build a world that I would approve of and in so doing allow my loved ones to live through me for they have shaped some of my ideas of a perfect world. To die would be to let their ideas die with me.
If I wasn't offered a spot in the bunker, I would just shrug and probably help accelerate the apocalypse. I would want something to keep me busy until the apocalypse takes me.
It depends upon a whole lot of factors. How many people are in the bunker, how many of them are cute (kidding), what kind of food supply we have stockpiled, what kind of state the world is left in (rubble, or empty buildings?), would I have to clean up the dead bodies, or were they vaporized?
I need more info. I know that in the case of a zombie apocalypse, I want to survive, but my husband says he wants to die. Fortunately, I can outrun him if he comes back. . .
No. Not that I don't care about life, but if history is any guide (and as an historian, I ought to believe it is), humans don't have a great track record of creating utopias after destroying their previous lives.
Nah. 'cause, you know, as a historian, I know how little hope there is that the civilisation that the chosen few would build on the other side would be better than this one.
I'm not afraid to die NOW… my desire to live through the final fall of civilization after some massive catastrophe is zero.
A REAL BIG NO.
Your response is identical to what my first thought was, VR!
For me it would depend on who else has the opportunity and how many could be included. By myself? … probably not unless I had some way to guarantee a food supply. If there were more candidates than slots available I would say it should go to those who can help rebuild basic infrastructures first. Construction, farmers, maybe even electricians. As a computer programmer and not a very physically-adept guy I wouldn't be able to contribute much beyond some sort of management or logical thinking ability, which at first would be more of a burden. In time it would become critical, though, so if there are plenty of slots available I'd say sure, why not.