Ever a source for peculiar happenings, Slashdot recently posted on an Australian man who is, quite literally, selling his entire material life on Ebay. His house. His car. His furniture. Even his friends agreed to meet with the eventual buyer. Everything is on sale but the cloths he is wearing, his wallet, and his passport. The current bid as I write this post is $390,000 AU.
As the seller explains on his site, the reason for such an insane move is an inability to move past the loss of his wife (divorce). They had built a life together, and now he is struggling to continue that life alone and wishes to leave it all behind. A very sad story indeed.
But it raises an interesting question. How much would it take for you to sell YOUR life? Lets assume that you can take your family with you, in addition to your identity. Could you pull the trigger on everything you've grown accustomed to? And if you could, how much would it take? And what the heck, lets put a Voices In My Head spin on it. How much it take for you to sell your virtual life? To sign off of every account you've ever created for the last time? $500,000? $1 million? $50 million? A cool Billion dollars? For every photo, every piece of jewelry, every real or virtual possession you own. How much to pick up and start from scratch?
And if you couldnt do it, why? What is it that ultimately defines who we are? Interesting food for thought.
As the seller explains on his site, the reason for such an insane move is an inability to move past the loss of his wife (divorce). They had built a life together, and now he is struggling to continue that life alone and wishes to leave it all behind. A very sad story indeed.
But it raises an interesting question. How much would it take for you to sell YOUR life? Lets assume that you can take your family with you, in addition to your identity. Could you pull the trigger on everything you've grown accustomed to? And if you could, how much would it take? And what the heck, lets put a Voices In My Head spin on it. How much it take for you to sell your virtual life? To sign off of every account you've ever created for the last time? $500,000? $1 million? $50 million? A cool Billion dollars? For every photo, every piece of jewelry, every real or virtual possession you own. How much to pick up and start from scratch?
And if you couldnt do it, why? What is it that ultimately defines who we are? Interesting food for thought.
I saw this story last week on Internet Superstar. When they introduced the story, I thought this guy must be a wacko. After watching the interview, I started thinking that he seemed reasonable. He had a divorce not too long ago and just wants to start fresh. I would have to take everyone with me, but sometimes, I think that I could give up my real life except for wife and kids for an annuity. Maybe $100K per year...of course, I would want a job to keep busy.
As for online life, no way. I like my username too much.