Probably one of the main reasons I would go. On Earth, most of the world really couldn't care less about you. On Pandora, it's almost like everyone is one huge family.

Ah - no one is too old. But flying is probably not avoidable in that case ;)
That bit I would not mind at all. I'm taking flight lessons with a glider currently and I hope to be able to do this soon. Well - not quite an Ikran, but one has to do with whats available here, right?

That is true also of course. That's why I said the question was once more not completely clear. Still - I have seen a bit of the world, still there is much more to see, but to go to a different planet - even if it is only for a 6 year assignment as in the movie would be great. Though I would probably get the worst case of withdrawal afterwards...

Very well said. So to fly off to Pandora is a bit egoistic, even more so if one decides to stay with the Na'Vi. But on the other hand here on Earth, we can try to change the world with actions but it seems to do little, maybe seeing a different world and showing it to others would create a change on Earth also.

I like your Avatar image - Grace - she is my favourite character and I connect to her and also her reasons to go - up to the possibilities and changes that opened up to her in the end. (I just hope I will not die before exploring these possibilities as she did)

Greetings
Aurora

Hi!

Yea i would, because Pandora, is a perfect planet i mean, the nature, and the na'vis are awesome :-)

*moon

And yes, I would.

Dude. I commend everyone who is willing to stay back. Not just for their species but for Earth.

I wouldn't be lying if I said I was in love with this planet. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. And besides, people are basing Humanity too much off the film. I mean, at least give them a pat on the back for trying to set things right now.

Says the guy with a rather disturbing like for the worst humanity has done...

Hey. I just admire the power of such weaponry. That doesn't say I'm happy they bombed Nagasaki and Hiroshima, now does it?

Now that's making accusations.

When I had PAD I was ready to go, but now when I have been clear of the depression for three months (Thanks to not watching the movie), I'm questioning this.

I do love the planet Earth. More than Pandora.. which is a fictional place I got to know thanks to Earths resources and a bunch of creative people. Earth is my home and I don't want to leave it.

However, I think that what originally made me want to give up my life for Pandora, is humanity. There are many, many people who are important to me, who know where we live, who know who we are. I couldn't live, or at least stay sane without all my friends, including every one of you here in the forums.

It's just that.. most people are ignorant. Kids learn to litter before they are 10 years old. They learn to smoke when they are 14. *facedesk* I'm just 16. Seeing some of my old friends go exactly this way is in fresh memory.

Fifth Element quote here:
Thank Eywa Neytiri didn't make a sadface and say something similar. It would have broken my heart.

THANK YOU! YOU MUST BE AN ANGEL SENT FROM THE MAN IN THE SKY WE CALL GOD!

VERY glad to see someone who has similar views. You've put in a completely understandable way. Maybe in might get through to these overzealous fans.

Congratulations. You've just made my day. :D

heh thanks :)

Maybe it's my age, or something else but I don't understand getting depressed over not being able to go to a fictional place.
Pandora is a work of art that's for sure, but I was never connected with the story enough that I felt it was the end of the world because I couldn't go there.
I would like to see the age statistics on people who have reported PAD.
I was a huge fan of Star Wars, the Matrix movies (yes all three of them are awesome), even Babylon 5, but never once did I want to give up my life here to live in those universes. (Okay, I wish I had Jedi powers..but that's something else) I think the closest I ever got was wanting to live in Narnia when I was in high school. I solaced myself with reading the books several times. Through the stories I was transported there for a few hours, but I was never depressed about not being able to actually live there.
Thank you mod for closing the other thread about killing yourself to be on Pandora, that is a dangerous thread and a sure sign someone is in need of help.
For any of you who feel that watching the movie makes you depressed, try to think of it in positive terms. Go watch the series Planet Earth and see all the places that are right here that are much more tangible and accessible.
I don't want to sound totally heartless, I have relatives that have dealt with depression and with medication and counseling they got through it and have normal lives.
Depression is a real ailment, no doubt about that. Pandora is a fictional beautiful image that has been created for us to enjoy, and be inspired to do better things for our own planet, not destroy our lives over.

Again, apologies for sounding callous, I'm the tiny voice of reality shouting at the top of my lungs.

I know all about depression...

I've always liked escapism before, but I've NEVER actually wanted those lives for my own... that's the difference in Avatar.

Well - the question kind of implies "would you go to Pandora if it was real". Obviously no one would espace to a fiction.

Well "There is no green anymore, they killed their mother" is about as bad :(

I think what gets many people to want to go to Pandora instead of Earth are "civilized" humans (and the Na'Vi in comparison) as well as the yearning for a more natural world. Obviously bioluminescent plants, flying dragons and a very real connection of all life that is not as intangible as the ones on earth add to it.
And while I am saying that if Pandora would exist and there would be a space ship going there and all that - then I probably would go - at the same time I know of course that it is fiction and my love and compassion goes towards earth and humans. My views on humans are a bit different than most though as you may know from my other posts. Basically my blame does not really go to humans but to the system (call it society or civilization) we live in. And if I get depression, I dont like to call it PAD, as the depression was with me before Avatar - and it has very earthly reasons and society and what it does to this world plays a big role in it. If Avatar showed me anything, than that this is the reason - I delved into it a lot as a result and explored origins and reasons and this basically is what came out - I utterly dislike what is done to this Earth (if you want to call it "our mother") by the people of the culture I belong to as well.

And this is not fictional at all - but it is part of the reason I would vote yes on such a question.

My depression was (is) more existential than about the beauty of the worlds. The Na'vi live life to it's fullest, living each day as it comes. They are outside all day, hunting, flying, running, experiencing their world to the fullest (something that can be done on Earth). Life is so simple there. They only live by the most basic of laws, theirs no economy to fret over, no bulls*** government Bureaucracy - just life, simple as that. Humans on the other hand live boring, planned out, day to day, 9-5 job lives. If the Na'vi can do it, why can't we?

Plus I'm a little depressed because of the Na'vi physically. I love the way they look, their features are so awesome, especially the queue (and the tail :P), and I would give anything to look like them. Hell, I'd even become a Na'vi on Earth.

Yes, Tsyal Makto - that is what I meant by the two sides of it. Once is the "more existential" part - things that do not at all depend on Pandora or the NA'Vi at all. These are social longings and longings for Nature - for a different way of life. The other parts are more fantasy like the plants and animaly, Ikran, NA'Vi physiology. Something that I cannot place in the two are Queues and what comes with them ("connection" between life, Eywa,...) - this goes more into a spiritual corner, but was represented in the movie as physical, so I guess it goes into both areas - it may be one of the strongest confusions coming from the movie, as humans long for such connections and concepts, but on Earth there is no physical evidence and it is all based on faith.

Just... this. Completely :'(
I agree, I really wish I could... Even being a Na'vi on Earth... I'd be so happy :)

Hmm - physically beeing a NA'Vi on Earth. That is an interesting thought. Trees would appear smaller though - and a NA'Vi without ability to tsaheylu with anything is very sad.

I voted no, because for all its flaws, this is still home. I would miss Earth's beauty way more than I long for Pandora. I love watching the seasons change, and I can't imagine animals without fur O.o'

Animals with fur - that indeed is something to miss ;). Just love my dogs.

I couldn't/can't/wouldn't leave earth. I feel I have too much to accomplish here. Maybe that sounds egotistical, but it's true. Also, if I were to leave earth, I would be giving up the greatest love I've ever felt for anyone(not Neytiri :P).

BTW, this means I change my vote from a "yes" to a "no".

Yep. You know, prior to watching Avatar, I've always sort of gawked at people who believed they were born in the wrong body, but now I understand completely. I See.:(

I'd imagine if we could bioengineer Na'vi, we could bioengineer Pandoran nature, so it wouldn't be that bad.

Wow - bioengineering a whole Pandora. A tempting (I admittedly love Pandora) and at the same horrifying (I admittedly love Earth) thought ;)

Definitely, same here. I never understood how people could think that before... but I was...the wrong body and the wrong world.

Interestingly, we might actually have the opportunity in the future. There's a lot of talk in the scientific community about how to deal with the biodiversity problem, and some have been talking about engineered life. I would love if we could (re)populate the world with things that would help humanity return to nature, giving us some of the natural "amenities" that Pandora has. Hmmm.:)

Oél ngáti kámeie, ma tsmukan.:'(

Only if all my friends and family were gone, only if all my life's endeavors came to naught, only if I could find nothing left to live for on Earth...then I would consider a one-way ticket to Pandora.

But at the moment, I have things to fight for here, and that's enough to keep me on this planet.

However, I would like to see some of the more existential aspects of Pandoran/Na'vi life on Earth, as others have said. It won't be easy, but I'll try incorporating some of those aspects into my own life as much as I can. And who knows - maybe by doing that the people around me will do the same, and if they like it, great.

Personally, I'd like to think that James Cameron didn't create Pandora so that people would wish they could go there; he did it so that people could see we're already on Pandora - we just have to look a little for it.* (I feel this whenever I watch the BBC's Life series, or when I'm deep in wilderness myself.) Or in the case of the existential aspects, (re)create Pandora ourselves.

Nevertheless, I also see what people mean when they say they were born in the wrong body and/or world. It's certainly nothing to vilify or make fun of. [I once thought I was born in the wrong time period. Sometimes I still do!]

EDIT: *Though admittedly there are no ikrans to fly around on. That would be cool. Actually it's kind of made me want to go skydiving, hangliding, wingsuit flying, etc.

Aaaaaannd ikran rounds out the top three aspects of Pandora that I long for. ;) I'm a pilot, so I know what flying is like, so I connected in a real special way with the ikran. I would love to feel my plane's wings as mine, and feel the wind in my face, not stuck inside a sealed bubble holding a little wheel. So I am now taking up hang gliding, too, as they really are the closest thing to ikran we have on Earth. I also wish I was able to fly all day, every day like the Na'vi do, instead of wasting my precious time on the bull**** demands of modern society. (Which leads into the existentialist aspects).

Dammit, I just want to be free! Is that too much to ask for?! :'( I thought I was free prior to watching Avatar, but now I see the chains that bound me all along, and I am desperate to break out.

I might expand this post a bit more tomorrow on recreating Pandora here, as well as maybe a bit more on the issue of wrong body/wrong world.

Yes i would give up my earth life to get on pandora, if i could, i wanted to do it right now! i hate earth nearly all the time..

Now that I've moved from the northern hemisphere of Earth to the southern I have a much better view of Alpha Centauri, Pandora's sun. I sometimes look up and wonder...

What should I do on Pandora? I can't breath without a exopack, the plants are eating you.... To live on Pandora as a stupid human will not be fun, I guess.

As a Na'vi, OK - this will rock ;)

I dont believe in that anymore. I used to cherish science and technology for all the opportunities it presents, I studied science but I have read in history and even in the present too many indicators that this is not working. The wild promises new technologies make are usually only partly fulfilled if at all and the downsides make the overall situation worse. Amending a working ecosystem with artificial life would require a thorough understanding of the workings of that ecosystem. And that is close to impossible to reach. It is my field of work and I tell you - we have not even scratched the surface of understanding the connections and know by far not enough to try and fix it

Indeed - that clearly was what he was aiming at. And that is what got to me. We are living on Pandora but we are still behaving like the RDA, wrecking the planet.

I see, we should make a new thread on that hanggliding. I started learning some weeks ago. Still in the beginner stage, but I'll get there and look forward to it!

Freedom - yeah - people are missing this for a long time without even knowing they do. We're buried in regulations, laws and rules as well in structures that do not fit a human way to live. I'm also so sick of that and want to break free! I doubt this is possible to a complete extent, but I want to turn away from this mess and walk away and I want to tell others to do the same.

I did also mean as an Na'vi :)

Yeah... I think everyone here meant as a Na'vi... certainly, I did. Truthfully, I would as a human too though assuming there was at least somewhere for me to be able to survive - somewhere safe to sleep, edible food, etc.

Yes, your right Human No More, that could also be fine :)

I don't know, I've got a lot left to do here, but most of the time I can't do them. Australia will keep me busy for at least two more years, Europe at least eight, Asia probably only one. Then I've got to start on Africa and South America to start on...

No I'm pretty happy here, but if I finish I'll be sure to check out Pandora.

Sounds good :/

Painful choice: would you rather be a human on Pandora or a Na'vi on Earth? I'd rather be a human on Pandora.

Na'vi on Earth for me.

Human on Pandora.

I'm not answering that.

Na'vi?! NA'VI SETTING FOOT ON EARTH?! BLASPHEMY!!!

My moment of insane rage is over. :D

That's hard...

If there were other Na'vi, Na'vi on Earth.

Otherwise, human on Pandora, I guess, assuming I had an actual way to survive there. If I didn't (and would die as soon as I got there), then I would go for Na'vi on Earth still.