The Colony/Headscratchers

• Is it just me, or are both Colonists phenomenally silly in the fact that neither did (or has so far) packaged fresh water to sell off? It would seem to me that filtered, boiled water would be a good resource for barter, and it's not like its labor-intensive for them either.
  • Not labor-intensive...but you try surviving in that environment and keeping a surplus of water for trade. It's just not going to happen.
    • Er, the Cistern? Had they thought of that on day four or five, they would be much, much better off.
      • ...Good point. The first season, though, wasn't able to get enough water themselves, by the looks of things. It's only the second season that was positioned to really take advantage of it.

• Joey turning back and reentering L.A. because he "wants to stay" even though the show is over, and so is their experiment.
• John V. giving away food and water to beggars because "God wanted him to"... even though they are all aware, once again, that everything is a simulation.
  • Which is exactly the point of the colonists being offered the opportunity to interact with the beggars.
  • The whole point of a simulation is to have people act as if the situation was real (aside from a few conventions regarding safety and Confession Cams). So the question put to John is: If you encountered some beggars in this situation, what would you do?
• The colony creating extremely lethal weapons, knowing that they can't actually use them on attackers.

• The psychologists all keep saying that the simulation becomes real to the Colonists, but is that really possible? I mean, there are people following them with big cameras and everything, probably wearing t-shirts and jeans, chowing down on good food while the Colonists have to eat nasty sausages. I feel like that would quickly break the Willing Suspension of Disbelief. I get that the show just wants US to believe it, but this troper just doesn't think the Colonists can really get immersed.
  • See Stanford prison experiment for how people can really get into something even if they are fully aware it's all a simulation. That thing was stopped after six days. The colonists were in the colony for far longer in a much more immersive environment.