[JSig]

While reading this, I kept thinking of the excellent Twilight Zone episode "Time Enough at Last."

In it, The book loving protagonist survives the "end of the world" and, after being all alone, is ready to kill himself. But once he stumbles upon the library, he realizes he has the rest of his life to read whatever he wants. Of course, things don't go as planned.

[pstack]

That episode always haunts me and it raised some other thoughts.

If you were the last person on the planet, would you still read and listen to music? I mean, without being a member of a species and a society that contextualizes you, does music even mean anything to you anymore? Do stories? If you're exiled on an island somewhere, you know that humanity continues to hum along past your horizon, even if you're stranded from it. But once it's eradicated - along with the whole ambition and possibilities of it - do created works hold anything for the one remaining survivor?

[cincinnatus]

I think it is hard to get your head around the totality of it. I suspect that if I were to lose all my children to an accident I would have a hard time finding the will to live. Losing all of humanity would include them. If you managed to survive that despair long enough, you might come out the other end in some fashion but as you say the context and meaning of everything would be altered.

This has been touched upon in speculative fiction, i.e. the library of knowledge remaining from a civilization that no longer exists. More than once. Not even including Kal El :-)

[norswap]

Probably reading, watching movies and listening to music would be in your best interest, as it would simulate some kind of dialog with a human being, maybe it would prevent you from losing your mind.

[JoeAltmaier]

And that matters why?