Last weekend, I was watching one of my favorite TV shows, "The Walking Dead." I'm a die-hard fan of the show, especially of Daryl Dixon. In general though, I love watching "zombie" movies and TV shows because of the adrenaline rush I get as I put myself into the victims' shoes while they are trying to outrun a horde of zombies. It is absolutely thrilling. Yes, I'm an adrenaline junkie, but that is a subject for another day.
As I was sitting there watching such a terrifying scene, my brain stopped me dead in my tracks and said, "What would happen if we had a zombie apocalypse today? Who would survive? Would I be able to find food? What about my family?"
Darn you brain. ... Scary thoughts if you think about it long enough. Until, I realized something ...
We are already in the middle of a zombie apocalypse now. Technology and the Internet have intertwined into a nasty virus that has completely taken over and entertained our minds, much like eating brains does to a zombie.
Every day I wake up, I can hear the groans of these "zombies" as they shuffle to work from staying up too late after a Netflix binge, the groaning of zombie children as they stumble into school and the sighs of older zombies as they, too, drag around from too much social media infiltrating their minds. Even I groan and shuffle around with a far away look in my eyes after hours of my brain being filled with Internet junk. It's tragic, really.
A quote once said to come from Einstein, but later attributed to some student in a dorm room, in an attempt to offend social media users says, "I fear the day when technology will surpass our human interaction." Whoever said that, genius or not, had a point, and they saw where we were headed.
Birthdays and holidays are celebrated through social media. You can send digital "get well" and "thank you" cards through email. Heck, even thieves can afford to be lazy, thanks to the advancement of technology. In fact, I don't even have to get off of my bum to cook -- I can just download an app and order food right to my door. Jeez, what has happened to us, people?
Everyone like my own twisted brain, wanders around scared of an apocalypse, when its already here! We are the apocalypse; we created these technology zombies. Oh sure, technology will continue to advance, but at what cost? Until we turn in to blobs of humans like the ones from "WALL-E"? I hope not! If you've ever seen the Disney movie, you might think it doesn't look too bad being on a giant spaceship with everything you could want and need. Seriously? Consider the fact that our beautiful planet God gave us as a home could be nothing more than a desert wasteland. Why? Because we were too busy having our faces stuck to our devices and ranting about saving the Earth but not ever actually doing something about it. It's not a far out possibility. Raise your hand if you've ever walked across the store staring at your phone, or have sat in class making your teacher wonder what's so funny about staring at your lap, or maybe even you've had the guts to text and drive. Anybody? We are all guilty in some way.
I'm not saying all of this to tell anyone what I think they should do, or to be a hypocrite, or to even work to find a "cure" for the zombies. What I am saying is that all of us need to slow down once in a while. Your mother would much rather hear "I love you" in person and to feel the embrace of her child than a text message just because it's Mother's Day. We were created to be able to breathe oxygen for a reason. Leave your phone inside, step out and fill your lungs with fresh air, even dare to feel the grass between your toes. You don't have to be country to enjoy the outdoors. Instead of staying indoors with your kids, go to the park, go for a walk, go to a ball game. Do something!
People my age are now the ones birthing the new generation. Don't let our kids stay locked up inside with their faces glued to flat screens. They need to know the smell of the air, the feel of rain on their skin and the sound of nature, outside of movies. This is important because our next generation will determine the continued beauty and solitude of our earth.
Don't wait for God to intervene because we have mindlessly destroyed our home by taking selfies with the planet rather than helping it.
This is not a conspiracy, this is reality.
Technology wasn't the birth of us, but it will surely be the death of us.
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