Deborah Jackson

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

The Zombie Apocalypse Has Already Begun



There’s been quite a few zombie movies released lately, and more to come. The other day I read this, regarding why we’re so obsessed with zombies and apocalyptic themes.

Essentially Professor Wilson is saying there are various complex reasons we like the ghoulish zombie epics.

An excuse to cast off blame, monsters awaken the Cain within us, zombies represent overcoming death, etc., etc.
 
But I think he's missing something. Perhaps this is one instance where likes attract. Perhaps we see more than a little of ourselves in the zombie. 

Consider for a moment human evolution.

We emerged from this:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Halobacteria.jpg
Archaea

Or some form of bacteria (pleasant thought)

And evolved into this:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Schimpanse_zoo-leipig.jpg 

Then with further genetic modifications became this:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Cro-Magnon_man_rendered.jpg 


And finally this:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Einstein_1921_by_F_Schmutzer.jpg 
Albeit there were some exceptions. Not all of us were Einstein material.

First we muttered amongst ourselves while we were grooming each other--monkey see, monkey do--then we created a wonderful thing called LANGUAGE--so we could shout at someone across the field instead of poking, slapping and grunting at the guy/gal within physical reach. Words were symbolic for every nuance of life, every object, phenomenon, colour or emotion. Then we had a fabulous idea. Because we have so many fabulous ideas, we'd better write them down.

So we did.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Sumerian_26th_c_Adab.jpg
After that the ideas just kept growing. 

We developed these:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/KFNB_Austria.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/TModel_launch_Geelong.jpg 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Two_women_operating_ENIAC.gif 
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Apollo_17_The_Last_Moon_Shot_Edit1.jpg


And a device that has a few beneficial components, but, as we would soon discover, is inherently evil:


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/Braun_HF_1.jpg 

Something happened at his point. Something like this  . . .
 



And it snowballed from there.


If you can't see this on your iPad or iPhone, click here.

Did you notice the transformation? Are we de-evolving?

This article explains what is happening.

 We’re being re-wired. My daughter gloats at my inefficiency at multitasking, but I always counter with "Is it really a benefit?" I can focus on the Wii flame for 30 minutes, or longer, while other members of my family are hard-pressed to sit through a minute. But my brain is also readjusting. I find, if the subject matter in my book isn’t riveting, my mind tends to wander. Well, that’s not unusual, but while in the past I might have taken a break, indulged in a coffee or a brisk walk, recharged in order to refocus, now I tend to pick up the iPad or the phone and skim sometimes comical but often inane posts. I’m overburdening my brain with essentially "junk data" that doesn’t help me write and interrupts vital programming—theme development, plot processing, character details—deep thought with singular focus that enables me to (hopefully) be creative.

 When we flood the airwaves or cell waves with every detail of our lives and every absurd thought, are we being social, or are we eating each other’s brains?

 You may notice I don’t post in my blog very often. That usually means I’m deep into research and writing, and I can’t focus on social media and producing a decent book at the same time. I can’t multitask worth a damn. But it doesn’t mean I haven’t tried to slap together posts now and then; the problem is they’re junk posts--fleeting thoughts, random commentary, superficial snapshots of my dull life--and I don’t feel they’re worthy of sharing. I don’t feel like boring you with every detail of my life. I have no intention of eating your brain. My goal will always be to expand and enrich it. Although, perhaps you will regard this as a junk post as well ;)

I don't ever want to become this:
Ipad/Iphone


Or see you transform into this:



Good luck surviving the apocalypse.