How much would you sell a year of your life for?

[KillerGremlin]

Here's the deal....and what a devilish deal this is.

Let's say you could sell a year of your life for X amount of money. You can sell as many years of your life as you'd like...obviously up to a limit.

Let's negate serious discussion about afterlife and prolonging your life or living forever.

[Swan]

I think you are leaving out a serious option up there KG. Not money but anything you want.


To sell myself for a year I would want something other then money.

[Combine 017]

But you could get that something with money.

[uber_paddler]

In the grand scheme of things, I'd be fine with dying a year early for as little as a hundred grand. I'm sure that's just because it feels like a long time from now, so I don't care. Though, for the record, I'd obviously try to get as much as I could. But 100,000 would be the absolute lowest.

[KillerGremlin]

I think you are leaving out a serious option up there KG. Not money but anything you want.


To sell myself for a year I would want something other then money.

What is it that you want that money cannot grant you?

I wish I could edit my own poll, so maybe an admin could help out.

[Typhoid]

KG, what do you want to edit?


Also, I don't know how much I'd sell a year for. It depends on what that year is.
Is the year removed from the end of my lifespan? If so, how long am I living for before I sell that year?
Is the year used as slavery, or some type of medical experiment?
Am I concious during this year, or completely comatose?

[Angrist]

Depends on what I have to do in that year. Or would I just lose a year of my life (will I die a year earlier)?

[uber_paddler]

Yeah, I just interpreted it as "you'll have one year cut off the end of your life".

[KillerGremlin]

KG, what do you want to edit?

You could add an option for Swan, "I'd sell a year of my life for something other than money."

Although I find that category somewhat ambiguous myself.


Is the year removed from the end of my lifespan?


Yes. So take:
[Length of your life] - [Year]

L - Y

Except it is more like

[Length of life] - [Amount of years] + [New found wealth]

L - Y*# + $$$ where # is the amount of years you want to ax off for added wealth.

If so, how long am I living for before I sell that year?


As long as you would have lived regardless. That part is open to interpretation I suppose. So if you eat a pound of bacon everyday and recon you're gonna go at 45 cause of heart failure, you'll only live till 44.

[TheSlyMoogle]

10 million seems good. Substantial amount of cash, and probably the lessened amount of stress I would have from financial troubles in my life will actually lengthen my life in the long run.

So 1 year for 10 million, yeah worth it.

[The Germanator]

$100,000 is probably the lowest I'd sell a year for, but $10 million would be better. The way I look it is that it would make my 20s a little bit better, and I think I'd rather have some spare dough now then when I'm in my 70s. Basically, if I'm going to live to 75, I don't think 74 is such a big deal either. Plus, with more money you could buy healthier/organic/more expensive food and afford the gym membership/personal trainer which theoretically could extend a year or two anyway to balance it out...

[Typhoid]

I'm not putting that in the poll because it's ridiculously ambiguous, you're right.



Hm, I'd probably sell a year of my life for at least double of whatever my yearly income is at the time that I make the decision. I mean, I'd find it ridiculous to sell a year for anything less than your yearly income in the first place - but since it's a year you won't be getting it would at least have to be double what I would normally get.

[Dyne]

Let's see.. 8 hours a day for at least 50,000. For the rest over it, it would easily be $150k at the VERY most. Not accounting for overtime.

Overtime hours would go time and a half, then double, then quadruple.

You're looking at at least a million.

[Szymon]

This question really got me thinking. What does it mean to lose an entire year of life? 8760 hours (with the exception of leap years). If it's your last year of life, it may not be a very big deal if you come down with a wicked case Alzheimer's or some sort of crippling, painful disease like bone-itis. On the other hand, the last years of your life are considered to be the most precious, if not the most enjoyable (diapers, arthritis and wheelchairs). So if the question is the minimum I would ask in exchange for a year, the answer takes a bit of thought.

How much time are we really losing? Assuming we sleep an average of 7 hours a night (even less when you're really old), in a year we only spend 6205 hours awake. Out of those hours, we spend about 2000 working, but if these are your final years then you probably wont be working. 6205 hours of spare time are flushed away. 6205 of hours you could spend living out your final days. From a purely financial perspective, how much money would it take to make it worth it? Well $100,000 over the course of 6205 hours is less than I earn right now. However, considering that these are my final years of life, would add or subtract from their value?

Some would claim that watching your grand children grow another year older is priceless. The fact that most of us are still really young would mean that we have really only one side of the coin to look at and we would probably not even give a second thought to robbing our future selves of that year of time (except for one of you, as of this post). I want to ask an older person what they would do. If they answered that selling that one year of life would be a big mistake, would that be out of genuine love of life, fear of death, or the drive for immediate benefit that most people are currently experiencing in the vote tally? Honestly, asking us this question is probably the best thing this devil could do, as our youthful avarice would lead us to make possibly one of the worst decisions of our lives.

That being said, I answered $100,000 before I really really really thought about this question. Thank you for killing an hour of time today at work.

http://i.imgur.com/y29q9.jpg

[Angrist]

"With the money I could actually lengthen my life" --> That's not fair imo. A year shorter is a year shorter.

So at least €100.000, although I probably wouldn't go through with it in the end...

And ehm, living a healthy life doesn't need to be expensive.

[Vampyr]

I would say 10 million. It's enough to live very, very comfortably for the reset of my life, and own a really sweet house. There's one down the road for 3 million I would like to buy. :lolz:

[TheGame]

"With the money I could actually lengthen my life" --> That's not fair imo. A year shorter is a year shorter.

So at least €100.000, although I probably wouldn't go through with it in the end...

And ehm, living a healthy life doesn't need to be expensive.

It doesn't have to be expensive, but depending on how healthy you want to be it CAN be expensive. For example, if someone went for 10 million, they have enough money to pay for a personal nutritionist Could pay them 50k per year.. Even if you only kept them 20 years, that's 1/10th of the overall money you get!

Not to mention you'd have enough money to buy a home outright, and your own home gym, etc.. I think of it like people going to college. Some people sacrifice time to live better in the long run.

But I voted for 1 million. I make a little over 60k per year now,, giving up one year for a lump sum that would take 15+ years of work to get sounds like a very fair trade to me. I'd be inclined to go for more money if I had the option, but if I was offered 1 mil... bye year.

[KillerGremlin]

"With the money I could actually lengthen my life" --> That's not fair imo. A year shorter is a year shorter.

So at least €100.000, although I probably wouldn't go through with it in the end...

And ehm, living a healthy life doesn't need to be expensive.

I think it is within the rules of this hypothetical that you can put your new found money towards living a healthier, longer life.

If I had 10,000,000 dollars (the price I think I sold a year of my life for) I'd hire a personal trainer, a personal dietitian, and I'd make sure to get daily spa treatments to reduce stress. :D And I'm sure more money means you can buy better doctors and get better surgery, etc.

[Combine 017]

If I got $10,000,000 for a year of my life I sure as hell wouldnt use it to try and lengthen my life. Id party hard all the time, maybe make a record to see how many lives I could go through, cause I would just buy a new one when the old one fails. And id spend it on crazy shit, like sky diving and cheetahs, maybe at the same time.

[Angrist]

... a personal nutritionist... ....a home outright, and your own home gym, etc..a personal trainer, a personal dietitian, and I'd make sure to get daily spa treatments to reduce stress.
So you don't want to be overweight. You don't need a personal dietitian to eat healthy. You already know how to, you just need to do it. Same with the personal trainer, just get some more excercise.
And you could reduce stress by not wanting too much (work/entertainment).

Right?

[KillerGremlin]

So you don't want to be overweight. You don't need a personal dietitian to eat healthy. You already know how to, you just need to do it. Same with the personal trainer, just get some more excercise.
And you could reduce stress by not wanting too much (work/entertainment).

Right?

I do, I diet and exercise on my own. I should clarify...I want a dietitian that cooks my meals for me. :lol: It would be sweet to have an expert chef whipping up some yummy vegan meals or ultra-nutritious meals. Cooking is a pain in the ass, especially with fresh healthy ingredients.

As for the personal trainer....I've made many personal gains in the realms of working out. I think it would be cool though to have a trainer that could introduce me to new routines and programs, make sure I have good form, and motivate me. There's a reason all the Olympic athletes have trainers, or all the NBA players have trainers, etc. You just can make bigger, better strides when you have someone who is very educated giving you motivation.

[Angrist]

Ok, but would that really add more than a year to your life?

[TheSlyMoogle]

Ok, but would that really add more than a year to your life?

In all reality probably.

I would gladly lose a year at the end of my life for a higher quality life. Enough money to invest, have what I want, and never have to worry about that stuff again.

Yeah.

I mean think of all the stuff you could do now, when you're young and could handle doing a lot of things. Travel, party, Invest. Hell I could go to school for the next 10 years, which is honestly something I would love to do given the money. I love school, learning is so much power it's insane.

[TheGame]

So you don't want to be overweight. You don't need a personal dietitian to eat healthy. You already know how to, you just need to do it. Same with the personal trainer, just get some more excercise.
And you could reduce stress by not wanting too much (work/entertainment).

Right?

I work 50-60 hours per week (and hit the gym an additional 10-12 hours per week), I don't have time to focus hard on eating healthy. I mean, I know how much I'm supposed to eat... I count calories... I eat healthy when I'm at home and in the meals I can control... But a nutritionist could make sure I'm eating 5 well balanced meals per day, every day.

Would that add years to my life? I think so.

[Teuthida]

$100,000 would be nice. At my current income level I might settle for $10,000, but would probably eventually regret that.

Already eat ridiculously healthy. Would just need to do some more cardio to strengthen my heart and I'd live forever. Forever!!! Muah hah hah ha! ...Minus one year.

Skipped the discussion. We're talking about dying one year earlier than normally would? There's also the Dollhouse method, where wouldn't live for a year and then regain your consciousness a year older and catch up on what you missed.

[Angrist]

I work 50-60 hours per week (and hit the gym an additional 10-12 hours per week), I don't have time to focus hard on eating healthy. I mean, I know how much I'm supposed to eat... I count calories... I eat healthy when I'm at home and in the meals I can control... But a nutritionist could make sure I'm eating 5 well balanced meals per day, every day.

Would that add years to my life? I think so.

You could probably add 2 or 3 years to your life by not working 50-60 hours per week. That's sick man. :(

[TheGame]

You could probably add 2 or 3 years to your life by not working 50-60 hours per week. That's sick man. :(

I agree, though working that much helps me to break some 'bad habits'. I consider working a good use of my time.

[magus113]

I agree, though working that much helps me to break some 'bad habits'. I consider working a good use of my time.

It's hard to work a lot and then just...not.

I had to get my hours cut back at work because of budget cuts so now I have to spend two days at home doing pretty much nothing..it sucks. I just sit around and play video games and eat junk.

And talk to Earl. Who wants to do that all day?

[Angrist]

I have to spend two days at home doing pretty much nothing..it sucks. You could look for some kind of fun volunteer work. It would also look good on your resumé.

[Typhoid]

I just sit around and play video games and eat junk.

And talk to Earl. Who wants to do that all day?

I agree. I've been doing this (minus the eating junk) for the past 2 months.

At this point, I'd gladly give up a year of my life for full and proper use of my spine. I wouldn't even want the money. :ohreilly:



Well, okay - I'd want the money, too.

[KillerGremlin]

Talking to Earl online is a lot like chatting with those AOL chat bots, like Smarterchild. Only with more love for Nintendo.

[Typhoid]

It would be like if Fufubot would spit out rants about Nintendo and Mario instead of posing your question back to you?

I never thought of Earl that way before.