You are buried in a coffin 6ft deep, with no light or cell phone. There is only a small tube connected to the coffin from outside that allows you to breathe (edit: you can breathe with no difficulty). After 48 hours, you are dug up and given 1 million dollars. Do you do it?

Edit: No food and water, no diaper, and no contact with the outside world. Once buried, they leave for 48hr and come back to dig you up. The coffin is only wide enough for you to lay on your back (no rolling around), and the inside is wood and not particularly comfortable. The only items you’re allowed to bring with you are life sustaining medication (e.g. an asthma inhaler). No knocking yourself out with pills or anxiety meds. The money is a briefcase full of cash.

  • hansl@lemmy.world
    333·
    10 months ago

    Maybe you can. But the thing about statistics like that it’s that they avoid saying “the average person”, and problems with averages is that half of the people are under it.

    If it’s not just made up data in the first place.

    • starman2112@sh.itjust.works
      132·
      10 months ago

      The thing is, the average person can survive about 4 days without water under normal circumstances. It would be even longer with no physical exertion, assuming it isn’t too hot and the humidity is right. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that the vast majority of healthy adults could survive not drinking for 48 hours if they’re spending that entire 48 hours lying down. The things to worry about here are mental health and infection from waste, not dehydration.

      The rule of thumb is “three days without water” because that’s how long most people can go. It’s not the ld50. It wouldn’t be a very popular rule of thumb if it got half of the people who followed it killed.

      • Jo Miran@lemmy.ml
        92·
        10 months ago

        I’ve lived through severe dehydration. It’s nothing to fuck with.

        • starman2112@sh.itjust.works
          5·
          10 months ago

          I mean you lived through it. I can’t afford to get this weird patch of skin on my arm or the bump above my knee checked out, so I might legitimately not live through severe not having money

          • Jo Miran@lemmy.ml
            51·
            10 months ago

            Risk analysis is different. I was dehydrated thanks to less than 24 hours without hydration and my body was fucked. I’m pretty sure forty eight would kill me. You are pretty sure that shit on your body ain’t right and that you can’t afford to get it checked out, much less treated. You’re risking your life if you do or if you don’t, so might as well go for the money. That said, if it’s serious, a million bucks might not be enough in this glorious healthcare system we’ve got.