Does Avatar teach us to see the beauty around us
 

I still remember how excited I was on my first day of school and how fast the excitement cooled off. So I've been thinking...would the same happen if I went to Pandora?

So I came up with a list - a pathetic reality check from a skyperson :D

1. Most of the Na'vi women/men are much less good-looking than Neytiri/Jake
2. Can I stand waking up early and working outdoor almost every day for the rest of my life?
3. Can I survive the jungle without being eaten or seriously/permanently injured? For how long?
4. Can I still hold myself together after being chased/injured by Thanators/Toruk on numerous hunting trips?
5. How does it feel to know I might die every time I "go out" and how stressful is it to live with this feeling?
6. In bad hunting seasons, how does it feel to hunt/work while starving?
7. Will flying/hunting still be fun after years?
8. Lastly, can I really live without tap water, warm showers, the microwave, icecream, the internet, music, movies, and everything else that I've gotten so used to?

After all, Earth doesn't look too bad...

not at all, but can be improved... since I saw AVATAR everything around me looks different

yeah...I shouldn't have said that. What I wanted say was we should learn to get over PAD because Pandora might not be where we really want to live.

I've thought about some of these before:

1. Of course individuals will vary, doesn't mean they all aren't
2. I'm still willing to bet there's a lot less 'work', if you can call it that, than a typical day at most jobs.
3. If you just arrived on Pandora, probably not. If you were Na'vi and learned to live as they do, you probably would.
4. If you're injured by a thanator or toruk, you're dead anyway :P
5. It's relative. We might die any time we go out on Earth too (or stay in)
6. There is probably enough, because the Na'vi never destroyed the balance of Pandora
7. You could say the same about anything.
8. This is the weird one for me. I know I'd miss them far too much on Earth, but I wouldn't on Pandora. Pandora would be "a fresh start, on a new world", and there's so much to replace them.

Personally, I know I will NEVER get over PAD, although it goes up and down in severity. Ever since Avatar, Earth really just hasn't been able to make me happy.

But HNM, you've just found a way to disprove all my points by pointing out the bright side of things, so maybe you'll get over PAD if you use your positive thinking to convince yourself why you can get over PAD.

I'm not so sure. I didn't really think positively while replying, I haven't been capable of being that positive for a long time now... Either way, it's almost like I don't want to lose PAD now, without it my life would be completely empty :(

I suppose, but pretty much every Na'vi female that was "featured was quite attractive. Besides, I think they are all beautiful inside, and I really don't care about the rest.

I could almost dream of doing this, so yes.

With the proper training, sure. Being taught as a Na'vi, definitely. Besides, if I'm going to die, I'd rather be some place amazing.

I don't get the impression attacks by those creatures are especially common, but either way, once you've survived once I think the confidence level goes up.

Living in this society is already like that.

If we're talking Pandora here, it is a land of plenty.

Flying? Oh my god, yes. Hunting? Well, I would never find it fun, simply something that must be done for survival.

All of these things are distractions from how much quality is missing from our lives in today's society. I would never miss any of that given a Na'vi life on Pandora. Really, I am more sure of this one than any of the other points.

1. This is very true physically speaking, I am sure inside they are all beautiful but of course no one is a beautiful as Zoe :D

2. I dont think waking up early would be as bad to me if I went to bed at a decent time LOL, so in a way I think if I knew no other it wouldnt bug me but if I was like Jake I am sure I would miss some things.

3. If I had Neytiri I could survive, alone, I give myself a week at most LMAO

4. I am an adrenaline junkie so I would probably be thrilled if I was still alive and want to do it again :D

5. I think it would make me appreciate things a whole lot! Though if you want to get technical, whenever you drive on the highways and leave your home on earth you run the chance of dying. Its just greater on Pandora.

6. This would blow, maybe motivate you some more though?

7. Flying definitely would! I want to get my private pilots license and I love anything that has to do with aviation so I would be flying everyday!

8. These are things I could get used to but the warm showers and such would always make me long for earth.

Avatar definitely made me want to venture into the forests of earth more than before though and almost "press reset" on the values I held for myself and redefine what I used to consider successful.

They're all pretty decent looking IMO. Though it's not really about physical beauty, because they are all able to "see" each other's inner beauty. Would be a nice change of pace from here.

I wouldn't mind. Sure beats a cubicle and florescent lights.

If I could run, jump, and fight like a Na'vi, I think I'd do pretty decently.

I think I could handle that. See above and below. ;)

TBH I think I might actually enjoy that feeling. It would be cool to give the grim reaper a nice middle finger (how would I do that with four fingers, now?:D) every day.

The trees on Pandora look pretty bountiful. I would think that if I couldn't hunt something, I'd probably find something else good to eat. Apparentally there is a species of shrimp-like thing (name?) that is pretty common on Pandora, too.

Sure beats a 9-5 job.:D Plus, I'm a student pilot, I could fly forever.;)

Sure, I would lose those things, but I would be gaining much, much more.;)

that's how we lived 10000 years ago, we need to learn about that, i'm sure that sooner or later, we are goin to get back to that lifestyle... I know how to survive in the middle of a jungle, you just need to be creative with whatever you have ...

and not eat the poisonous things :D

answer to thread title: Yes.

1. True, but I love the Na'vi for the people for who they are inside.
2. I wake up early and go to bed late anyway so I don't really have a problem with this.
3. I doubt it for me. ;)
4. I'd like to think I would, but again in the position I doubt it.
5. It wouldn't be a particularly nice feeling, but I think I could deal with it.
6. Again, not really a nice feeling, but it makes the work all the more rewarding.
7. I do agree, I think it would lose some of it's magic after years of doing it, but it would still be a good experience I think.
8. I think I could, I'm not really into all this social networking stuff (hypocracy warning :D) and i'd much rather speak face-to-face to people. As for the 'white goods' side of things, I don't think i'd miss them all too much and water always tastes better direct from the source, better than all the chemicals they put into our tap water supply. (Not saying this is a bad thing, but it's just my opinion.)

In a short answer: YES!!!!

Longer answer: I have lived a earth-friendly lifestyle for most of my life. I watched again last nite with my niece & afterwards we talked about it....I said that the Na'vi way is very seductive for me--I have flown in small aircraft on & off most of my life---to fly with an ikran would be as close as I could get to a perfect life --so free.....

As for beauty--that is most likely one subjective topic & I would bet that anyone could find their "perfect" mate there..........

Like any tribe, there are many "jobs"--how about the village artisan? Song singer? Not all would be involved in hunting & I would bet that there is a barter system going strong.....

I would think that you could be "almost" anything your heart wished there...I would just want to have the chance :'(

I've reiterated this many times, but beauty and nature can certainly coexist with technology, as long as we use resources that are renewable and we clean up our wastes. Don't be ashamed of loving technology; we developed such things to improve our odds of survival. We don't have an Eywa on earth that protects the balance of life. Unlike the Na'vi, who believes that death is a natural life cycle, we always fight for survival, and we want to prevent death at all costs. For us, the environment is unforgiving, and something that we must fight against and conquer in order to survive. We don't understand, or See, the significance of the cycle of life and death like Na'vi did.

Even though we've come a long way since the days when we have to worry about natural predators, we can and should develop newer and newer technology that improves our life while preserving the environment.

I've thought about this, but I believe that mankind has the potential be the Eywa to our earth, because we can use our technology to change the world and the environment. For good or for bad is left for us to decide, and unfortunately, mankind's primordial instinct for survival gives us some inherent greed, and that can really jeopardize the development and use of technology in our future.