Prison Camp

Having spent 5 weeks in isolation from society I can tell you that life really is simple. Once all our basic needs are satiated, we must find activity to occupy our time. I am my own social experiment.

On site I am subjected to no advertising, marketing ploys or even the use of money. What happens when we live in a society without such things?
Firstly, my first experiment was with food. When you pay for a buffet you are inclined to get as much value as you can from the money that you spend. You typically do this by eating the most expensive food first and as much of it as you can. So at a Japanese buffet we gorge on sashimi until we feel sick. What about a la carte? When we go to fast food restaurants or near any restaurant for that matter there is the pressure to up sell. Why by an entree when it’s much better value to get main size, or perhaps more colloquially would you like fries with that?

When I go to a food court, if I have to pay $9 for a small continental roll / foccacia or something or $6 for a burger fries and coke which i know will fill me up its hard to pay more for a perceived less. I know which is better for me but I somehow end up at the line to Maccas. Then when I get to ordering its only 50c more for a large so I get it. Then when I feel full but there are still chips on the plate staring at me to be eaten, I eat them just so that my money is not wasted.
Now on site, there is no money exchanged. I do not pay for my buffet. It is provided as stated in the terms of my employment contract. So because there is no perceived value being lost I feel no obligation to get my money’s worth. So I skip all of the eggs, and bacon, sausages, hash browns for breakfast and get a bowl of cereal, prunes and yogurt. For lunch I have a salad with cold cuts, and dinner I usually have a light vegetable rich one and sneak in a bit of dessert.

More interestingly is that when I am full, I stop eating. There is no mother figure to yell at me for not finishing my food. No financial penalty or perceived gain for finishing it. So I eat what I need and have been taking less and less as I have been losing weight and exercising more.

Amazing what life is like without money.