How much cash would it take for YOU to go on a 1000-to-1 death wish?

-- Anonymous, July 03, 2001

Answers

good lord, none. at all.

unless, y'know, i was feeling suicidal.

-- Anonymous, July 03, 2001

As little as.. Oh I don't know.. Let's go with $1,000. I don't know, with things like that, I'm pretty daring. 1,000 to 1 is a pretty good chance of it not happening.

-- Anonymous, July 04, 2001

Eh, I'd give it up. I'd rather have a Veggie Whopper and call it a day.

-- Anonymous, July 04, 2001

I don't think I'd do it for any amount of money, in my current position. I have enough money to live on and would not want a million dollars or whatever for myself (if I was given it, I'd use it for various things, but wouldn't go out of my way to procure it.) I wouldn't do it even if I was in a situation where I had no money, though, because my life is incredibly valuable to me and money has a wonderful way of fucking you up.

-- Anonymous, July 04, 2001

A lot... like a million or so. I'm a big wuss

-- Anonymous, July 04, 2001

It'd depend on how my life was going at the time. If life was good, ie. I had stuff which I thought I wanted to live for, and I wasn't * completely* broke, it'd take hell of a lot - maybe 10 million or so. If life was less good and I was less happy living it, plus I really needed the money, then I'd do it for, I dunno, maybe twenty, fifty thousand, something like that.

-- Anonymous, July 04, 2001

Interesting question, Golf... I don't think I could do it. I might say I would do it and then get in there and not pull the string, something like that. I just don't think I would be able to. As someone said above, I'm a big wus.

-- Anonymous, July 04, 2001

a couple months i would have done it for like $1000. Now... i dont think i would do it unless it was a load of cash... like $1,000,000,000. Bill Gates' style. lol

-- Anonymous, July 04, 2001

Interesting... I didn't realize there were so many (self-described) wusses out there. I intentionally set the odds up kinda high to eliminate the wuss factor - I would hope that if the odds were, say, 10-to-1, no one would do it, but if the odds were 10 million-to-1, everyone probably would. A thousand was a nice, even number. It didn't suggest near-impossibility, but was high enough to keep people from discounting it.

The high wuss-out factor is still amusing, though. I mean, it's a thousand to one shot, with a pretty sizable return. You figure these days, your chances of surviving a day in some of our larger cities might run with odds about that.

As for me, I'd probably set it at about $200,000. Although if actually given the opportunity for as low as $50,000, I'd probably give it a thought.

-- Anonymous, July 04, 2001

Not very much. I'd think about it around a thousand, five grand for sure. I never win anything anyway, even when the odds are 5:1. Actually, come to think of it - I would definitely do it for a thousand. (I have a well-developed sense of invincibility)

-- Anonymous, July 05, 2001

About the wuss factor.. While the odds might be similar to surviving a day in a big city (are they really, though? There are something like 700,000 people in San Francisco and I don't think 700 die every day from city-related accidents [i.e., not disease, suicide, etc.]) at least you have some control over whether you'll die due to city living. I don't drive a car, and I'm a very alert person when it comes to safety when walking around. I don't really consort with people who are statistically likely to kill me (gang members, drug addicts, etc.) and I live in a safe neighbourhood, but in a dinky apartment that isn't likely to be robbed with me being killed in the process. So it isn't the same level of random statistics; we're responsible for ourselves much more in these situations. I also think it just has a lot to do with how much you want/value money. If it was, say, meeting someone who I would consider perfect and with whom I could have an incredible relationship, or a raise in IQ points, I'd consider that (especially the latter) way before I'd do it for money. If you don't want the reward, you're unlikely to risk anything for it. I don't particularly like the idea of being handed money, in general, so I don't think I'd do it if the odds were better, either.

-- Anonymous, July 05, 2001

Are the rooms sound-proof? If I was going to be a wimp, I'd waited for a good 15 mintues or so. If I didn't hear any big BOOM! then I wouldn't open the envelope. But's that's what I would do if I was smart.

I'm not. $25,000. Or more.

-- Anonymous, July 05, 2001

I'm with the crew that would wait a bit for the boom.. but I'd say it'd need to be about a million dollars, at least. I think that's at least what I'm worth. Hah. I was gonna say enough to cover my bills for awhile (like, $1,000)..but nah. I'd rather live with the collections agencies if I had to than be six feet under.

-- Anonymous, July 05, 2001

All the money in the world wouldn't convince me to do it. Bad things always, always happen to me. If there was a 1 in 1000 chance that I would be blown to bits...well, I would!

-- Anonymous, July 05, 2001

He said the walls between the rooms are very, very thick, so yeah, they're soundproof.

-- Anonymous, July 05, 2001

LOL - I thought about including a bunch of stuff about how you were strapped into a chair and the envelope was taped to a wall, with the pull string tied to a metal block attached to an electromagnet that would be turned off at the appropriate time. But I figured people wouldn't attempt to cheat the system. :) Oops.

-- Anonymous, July 05, 2001

It would have to be AT LEAST $10,000. that pays all debt and let me go to school and make a half decent wedding. But only after I took out a policy on myself. No use making Jeremy suffer THAT much.

-- Anonymous, July 05, 2001

well since i wouldn't be smart enough to wait for the boom, not i. i am bad luck personified. i think the wuss factor can never be eliminated. i'm twenty and holy shit, i have another human being (namely the one who gave me the ring on the finger...not a crying poop factory) i have to think about when i do odd shit. but then again there will always be people who, like me, lack just enough of a backbone to do the *really* neat stuff. for instance..i got on the stupid aero car ride over the niagara whirlpool today and turned my ass right back around and got off. shot that $6 to hell....

-- Anonymous, July 06, 2001

For me, it's not just the possibility of my own death - it's knowing that someone will HAVE to die in there. Even if I had the money and was okay, I think I'd be scarred for life watching someone else's guts splatter on those sound-proofed walls...

-- Anonymous, July 06, 2001

You wouldn't be seeing it, though.

-- Anonymous, July 06, 2001