The Worst Possible Thing

[noparlpf]

What do you all think is the worst possible thing? Personally I'm torn between headaches, insomnia, love, and olives.

And before anybody else does this:
http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb416/noparlpf/rarity___the_worst_possible_thing.jpg

[Asta Kask]

Really bad nausea.

[Elemental]

It's good that the obvious reference is out of the way.


And, because of recent events, I'm going to say tonsillitis.
But I'm biased.

[Objection]

I'd say betrayal, being backstabbed, that kind of thing.

[Lord Raziere]

Apocalypse. Entropy. Despair. The Sum Total Stupidity of Humanity. All the misconceptions and assumptions clouding up the Truth and keeping humanity in the dark. The Milgram Experiment. The Zimbardo Prison Experiment. The Unfairness of Everything. Procrastination.

[factotum]

Sciatica. I'm not sure if there is a worse physical pain--if there is, I've thankfully never felt it.

[noparlpf]

Sciatica. I'm not sure if there is a worse physical pain--if there is, I've thankfully never felt it.

I had a mild pinched sciatic nerve. That wasn't fun. I think I've had worse, though.

[Maxios]

Betrayal. Physical crap like nausea or fear, that goes away and you eventually forget about it. But someone betraying you...you remember that forever.

[Asta Kask]

Realizing you've said something that hurt a friend or loved one badly.

[Raddish]

Coffee flavoured sweets.


For a more serious option illnesses that make you feel much worse than you actually are.

[ForzaFiori]

when you like someone, and they don't even notice it or return the feeling.

[Riverdance]

I'd say betrayal, being backstabbed, that kind of thing.

Yeah this one is high on my list

[Sturmcrow]

Betrayal


Though having a pinched nerve is pretty bad. I herniated a disc so not only back pain but it hit a nerve cluster so I get sciatic pain too

[OverdrivePrime]

Genocide? Ebola? Cancer? The attempted return of 80's fashion?

I'll go with cats.

[Pyromancer999]

Uncleanable dried vomit all over your dorm bathroom that's been there for a few days.

[noparlpf]

I agree with most of you; emotional pain is pretty bad, and much worse than physical pain. I can barely move right now because I worked out really hard yesterday and I'm pretty out of shape, so my quads are killing me (but in a really nice way), but my emotional upset is much worse.


Uncleanable dried vomit all over your dorm bathroom that's been there for a few days.

Dorm bathrooms are the worst possible thing about university.

[Tebryn]

Death? That seems the worst thing to me. I mean, a lot of things are bad but the -worst- possible thing? Death.

[Gallus]

There will be no curiosity, no enjoyment of the process of life. All competing pleasures will be destroyed. But always — do not forget this, Winston — always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face — forever.- 1984, by George Orwell

But also getting clothes out of the drier that are too damp to put in your drawers but also too dry to put back in the drier without doing damage to them.

[Riverdance]

I'd say betrayal, being backstabbed, that kind of thing.

Yeah this one is high on my list

[Pyromancer999]

Dorm bathrooms are the worst possible thing about university.

Agreed. It's in every nook and cranny, and may not even get cleaned for another couple days. And I'm going to have to shower sometime. :smallfrown:

[Eldan]

Death? That seems the worst thing to me. I mean, a lot of things are bad but the -worst- possible thing? Death.

Agreed. Given time, there is a chance you get over everything else.

But not Death.

[Grinner]

Death? That seems the worst thing to me. I mean, a lot of things are bad but the -worst- possible thing? Death.

Disagreed. Depending on your viewpoint, Death is the best thing that could happen. Premature death is another matter.

[Pyromancer999]

Disagreed. Depending on your viewpoint, Death is the best thing that could happen.

Like the death of my sense of smell. That might be nice.



Premature death is another matter.

Agreed.

[Katana_Geldar]

There's only one answer...


http://www.jumpedtheshark.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Room_101.jpg

[thubby]

helplessness.

by definition it means something bad is happening, and now it's compiled by the fact that you can't do anything about it.

[Eldan]

Disagreed. Depending on your viewpoint, Death is the best thing that could happen. Premature death is another matter.

I consider every death premature. But that's a question of world view, and I think one we have already debated a dozen times on this forum.

[Dienekes]

I've seen a fair few folk die, and in my opinion I'd rather check out a bit early than overstay my welcome in this case. But then I've always been more curious as to what happens after death than afraid.

No for me the worst thing is losing control of my mind. Dementia, drugs, Alzheimer's, that's truly the worst thing for me. I've always been proud of my mind, and my ability to control my reactions, my feelings, being able to tell my fantasies from reality. The concept of losing that control? Horrible.

Also, small children.

[Admiral Squish]

Worst. Possible. Thing?
Purely malevolent actions. I'm very forgiving of accidents and little things that people do to each other thoughtlessly. But when somebody goes out of their way to make life harder for me, just out of spite, that just makes me angry. Really ticks me off.

WORST POSSIBLE THING?
Getting Paralyzed. Full, or even partial. I don't think I could deal with being unable to do anything.

[Tonal Architect]

I've seen a fair few folk die, and in my opinion I'd rather check out a bit early than overstay my welcome in this case. But then I've always been more curious as to what happens after death than afraid.

No for me the worst thing is losing control of my mind. Dementia, drugs, Alzheimer's, that's truly the worst thing for me. I've always been proud of my mind, and my ability to control my reactions, my feelings, being able to tell my fantasies from reality. The concept of losing that control? Horrible.

Also, small children.

Agreed on the overstaying your welcome part.

I don't value self-control that much, but I also agree that losing control of one's mental capabilities, or even worst, losing one's mind altogether, figures pretty high in the "How Awful" rank.

Although I believe that losing control of one's body to the point where you're basically encased in a flesh and bone casket, with funeral rites expected to last decades, might be even worst, which leads me to...


Death? That seems the worst thing to me. I mean, a lot of things are bad but the -worst- possible thing? Death.

A person in the same predicament as the protagonist of Johnny got his Gun would quite literally beg to differ, but, being unable to do so, I guess such a person would be forced to settle for awaiting death for decades in a world maddeningly devoid of anything but one's self.

[The Succubus]

Depression going full tilt.

It's bad mojo when you're body isn't working too good. It's a whole new horrible ball-game when your own brain turns against you.

[Morph Bark]

The discontinuation of the existence of time seems to me like it'd top the list or at least be pretty high up on it.

[truemane]

Worst is such a funny term when it comes to humans. We tend to only notice changes in the status quo and so, even horrible, horrible things eventually become the status quo and stop bothering us all that much.

For me, the worst thing I've had to endure in my adult life was confronting the probability that my True Love no longer loved me and no longer wanted to be with me. And for the record, I don't use that term 'True Love' lightly. I'm a full-grown adult, and a life-long hard-headed pragmatist who has never believed in all that mamby-pampy navel-gazing one-person-for-everyone business. Relationships are social contracts built on compromise and pheromone-induced euphoria, nothing more. I've always been perfectly happy all on my lone and have always regarded female companionship as something to enjoy when it's there and to forget about when it's not.

But, as it turns out, I do have one True Love, and it's her. And she always will be. And I had to live two months with the certainty that it was over.

I've never had pain that intense or impossible to ignore.

Is that worse than being paralyzed from the neck down? Having terminal bowel cancer? Starving to death? being ethnically cleansed? Probably not, but for me, in my life and in my experience, it's the Worst Thing (so far).

[Devils_Advocate]

"So, I think I've worked out what the most important thing in life is."
"Not being on fire?"
"Hey, I'm being serious here."
"So am I. Think about it: No matter what you want in this world, if I set you on fire, you'll want not to be on fire more."
"... Yeah, that's better than what I had."


Floor 93-BA: A fallen creature lay here. It was made of metal, and blood, and bone, and time.

“Hello,” I said.

“I am dying,” it said.

I stopped and studied it. “And where will you go,” I asked it, “when you die?”

“Perhaps,” it said, “I will cease utterly. I have never given comfort nor withheld it, nor done anything worth the karma of a new existence. I have no sins and no virtues. I woke, I fell, and I have been dying ever since. But I do not die very fast, because when I am alone, there is no time.”

“I’m going to Hell,” I said.

“Fire and brimstone,” said the creature, “is best avoided.”

“Not that,” I said. “That’s a stupid kind of Hell.”

“Oh?” it asked. “What is Hell, then?”

“It’s not torture,” I said. “Pain is just sensation. I mean, humans are really good at this kind of thing, and demons are even better, and I’m sure that you can always make torture last one day longer and make it one note harder to bear. But pain is just sensation. Torture is just sensation. It’s not suffering until it makes you suffer. And Hell is eternal suffering.”

“What is suffering?”

“Suffering is when you can’t accept the pain,” I said. “And it’s normally self-limiting, because people automatically accept the pain they’re used to. Most humans are so used to walking around at the bottom of an atmosphere that we forget how much it hurts. And we’re so used to not having our jaws ripped off every few days that we forget how nice and amazingly cool that never happening is. But sometimes you can’t accept the pain. You want to fly. You want to transcend. You want an apple and you can’t have one. You want the pain to stop. You want something. You want something that’s right, and proper, and something that you can’t have. And that’s suffering.”

“So what is Hell?”

“A place where there’s something you can’t let go of,” I said. “It’s a place where there’s something so bad that you can’t accept it. Where there’s something you don’t have that’s strong enough to cling to forever and ever. It’s a place where you can’t just close your eyes and let go of the pain and the fear. It’s a place where there’s something you can’t stop wanting.”

The creature considered. After a time, it said, “I would recommend against going there, because you would certainly suffer.”

Then it died.

I don’t know whether it comforted me or hurt me, what it said. Maybe neither. Maybe it was just a thing, a neutral, a nothing, and the creature’s spirit is nowhere in the world. - from the journal of Ink Catherly (http://imago.hitherby.com/2005/02/ink-and-illogic/)

[ThirdEmperor]

Getting stung by a box jellyfish. Waking up to find two tarantulas mating not an inch away from your face.

Being helpless to do anything but watch as an eagle snatches up a month old puppydog and flies off into the sunset with it.

Accidentally stepping on one of those huge centipedes and stomping it in half, only for the half that still has a head to writhe around and bite you while you're frantically trying to clean the disgusting bug guts off of your foot.

Jam that's gone bad and fermented into a pseudo-ethanol jelly that tastes like it was scraped off the bottom of a septic tank.

[noparlpf]

Cluster headaches. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluster_headache)

/thread

Yeah, you win.

[Objection]

I've got another one.

Being really tired and really hungry at the same time. Unless you're a sleepeater.

[Abies]

I envy the pathetically insular world the posters here seem to live in. Try this:

The rape of your pregnant fiance, resulting in the loss of your child and subsequent loss of the person you love as she dissolves into fear, depression, hopelessness and ultimately suicide.

Add on top of that knowing who committed the crime, but that person being outside criminal prosecution due to messed up international extradition law.

I'm sorry but everything else mentioned seems trivial in comparison. I'd gladly suffer migraines every day just to have my wife and child with me.

/edit I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be a downer. Upon reflection this was apparently meant to be a lighthearted discussion. It is just that when "worst thing possible" is thrown out there and the responses are all banal or personally uncomfortable inconveniences, a little perspective as to the actual horrible things that happen in life is necessary. If the worst thing one has to deal with is being "hungry" or having a bad headache then I'm envious.

[Sgt. Cookie]

Waking up to find several internal organs missing.

Also, Abies. Wow, just, wow. I am so sorry, man.

[Morph Bark]

I'm sorry but everything else mentioned seems trivial in comparison. I'd gladly suffer migraines every day just to have my wife and child with me.

Since the OP did not specify about the worst thing you can imagine and possibly expect to happen to you in your life, I suppose it's all fair game (though I'd say you are right in that it appears to be mostly aimed towards a lighter-heartedness, at least so far). Hence why I figured I'd go at it on the level of the entirety of existence with the discontinuation of the existence of time.

Personally, I find the mere idea of everything being frozen in time - or alternatively there being no past and no future - to be utterly depressing on its own. :smallfrown:

If I had a wife and child though, your answer would definitely be up there for me. I consider myself several years too young to be even thinking about marriage though. :smalltongue:

[MountainKing]

My own, personal worst thing happened to me recently, so unfortunately, I'm left with relatively little to feel as the worst. I'd have to say, at this point in my life... coming home after another rough day at work, and finding out that I have no tea, and have no money for tea, is pretty much the worst possible thing,

[Solaris]

I'd say betrayal, being backstabbed, that kind of thing.

I have to agree. Also, people chewing with their mouth open and smacking their lips should be punishable by summary execution.

[Carecalmo]

I have to agree. Also, people chewing with their mouth open and smacking their lips should be punishable by summary execution.

I always parse that as "summery execution". We will drown you in flowers and sunshine and beaches.

For me, it is the loss of touch with reality. Insanity is just a bit too real for me, and I have skirted across its surface long enough to know that the triggers for it are horrible enough, but the result: to leave the real world in favor of either dreams or nightmares unending and being unable to return.. that is a worst possible thing. A mind alone slowly stops feeling human. Consciously feeling this loss of humanity, and being unable to do anything about it. I have a hard time coherently explaining it. It is abstract and impossible and all in my mind.

Oh, and while it is a worst possible thing, it is under control. No worries (regarding that) these days.
Some worries about stories like Abies'. I am sorry for your loss.

[Solaris]

I always parse that as "summery execution". We will drown you in flowers and sunshine and beaches.

Don't forget the frolicking.
*Shudder*


For me, it is the loss of touch with reality. Insanity is just a bit too real for me, and I have skirted across its surface long enough to know that the triggers for it are horrible enough, but the result: to leave the real world in favor of either dreams or nightmares unending and being unable to return.. that is a worst possible thing. A mind alone slowly stops feeling human. Consciously feeling this loss of humanity, and being unable to do anything about it. I have a hard time coherently explaining it. It is abstract and impossible and all in my mind.

Some people yet survive because I spend increasing amounts of time 'away'. I wouldn't say complete loss of touch with reality is the worst possible thing.


Oh, and while it is a worst possible thing, it is under control. No worries (regarding that) these days.

Is it, now?

[RandomNPC]

As for removal from reality.
Escapism, even DEEP escapism, is good.
Unwilling insanity, the complete withdrawal of your reasoning mind, leaving you awake and functioning with no filters between your senses and imagination, no way to tell what is real and what is not, that is not good.

That being said, if you want to see the worst possible thing, get between me and my kid.

[BaronOfHell]

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_vdxdPGBxho/TcYgr6K0u8I/AAAAAAAABac/GFzyK5N0Cxc/s1600/pain_rating%2Bxkcd.png


Death? That seems the worst thing to me. I mean, a lot of things are bad but the -worst- possible thing? Death.

Agreed


I guess such a person would be forced to settle for awaiting death for decades in a world maddeningly devoid of anything but one's self.
Oh. Like average life then. Anyway, Johnny's choice doesn't have to be yours or mine.