Alone - Analysis Thread

[Scythe13]

So I've spoken about the programme Alone, and in a thread about Truly Being Alone there is a whole host of analysis options available, things to discuss, gear lists, and the alike.

Genuinely it's well worth a watch, the gear options are very interesting, and the attitudes and behaviour of the participants is very open to analysis.

So, get yourself online and watch Alone, then pop back over and tell us what you think, what gear options you would have gone with, and the alike.

For the lists of gear, check out http://www.history.com/shows/alone/artic...ited-items

The very interesting thing about the programme, for me, is the psychological element to it.

One of the most fascinating aspects is that those whom did not take themselves too seriously, were the ones that did the best. The recital of The Raven (okay, only 1 verse of it) and the sumo wrestler's chat thing was hysterical. But it really held home that those 2 with the best senses of humour were the ones that were best prepared mentally, to face the challenge of being alone.

I had always thought that keeping yourself busy was going to be the main aspect of survival, mentally and physically. So I was putting money on Lucas to win it. He had been the most physically active, built the best shelter, and was even looking into building a log cabin at one point. But the thing that took him out was the solitude and all the time to think about himself and being there. Alan's line of "When you're alone, you'd better like yourself, because you'll be spending a lot of time with yourself." As entertaining as that was, I did find it curiously accurate.

With the time that I've spent being really alone, I will stand by Tarrel's statement about breaking down for no particular reason for a few minutes. Been there and done that. I've cracked about things that were really nothing on the face of it. But the more and more time I spend alone, the easier it is. Months of solitude will wreak havoc. Technically days will cause issues. Anyone that says otherwise…well, there's a reason that solitary confinement is used as punishment everywhere on the planet. When Nazi's were experimenting, they found some of the strongest negative mental effects were had via solitary confinement.