July 19, 2008
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The Xombie Effect
First of all, I would like to start this post off by saying that I am pretty sure that I am the first xangan to use the word “xombie” and thereby I officially claim it.So here I sit, at 1:30 in the morning. I am tired as hell, and I am upset that I haven’t been spending much time here on xanga (or the computer in general) at all lately. The reason being of course is that I work hard, I work long, and I work late, and there’s not much I can do about it, but I am nonetheless fascinated by something I have recently discovered. The Xombie effect.
No matter how tired I am, totally vegged out in my chair, late, late at night, there will always be one more page I have to see. When I am in this state, I rarely leave comments. I peruse page after page reading the articles and simply not commenting. This isn’t because I couldn’t think of anything to say. It’s not because I was too lazy to comment. It is simply because I have been Xombified. I am utterly left to rot in the zoned out condition in which all I can do is stare at the screen utilizing the worst possible posture and read about random pieces of information.
Now I guess, more than ever, I have realized humanity’s disastrous eventuality: the internet. We have thus created our own doom. More and more things are becoming completely available to us via the internet. We can literally live without ever having to leave our chairs. We can order groceries online. We can pay bills online. We can bank online. We can work online. We can sell old items online. We can entertain ourselves online. We can even have sex online. The only thing our computers can’t do for us anymore is feed us. So with all of this convenient availability, we have we not completely reached this stage of existence yet?
Perhaps it has something to do with the human willpower. Perhaps we have watched The Matrix too many times, or something deep down inside our subconscious tells us that it is just not right to spend hours wasted away in front of the boob tube. Is there hope then still for us mortals? Not likely, every year it seems more and more steps are made in technological “advances” that are merely advancing our journey toward complete vegetation. There will always be those above the influence of course, and I find it very unlikely that everybody will give in to this style of living.
But when it all boils down to it, what is the point to NOT live this way? Why not sit back and let our computers facilitate our every movement. Lives becomes easier, more simplistic, and more organized. Whatever the reason is, I will keep a weather-eye on how long it lasts. Will I see a point within my life time when somebody “living on the computer” no longer becomes figurative but truly quite literal. That is damn scary.Until next time, good luck with life.
Comments (36)
The answer is, of course, to simply unplug your computer, take it down to the docks and just chuck it as hard as you can. You know though, you can order stuff online, but you still have to answer the door to get whatever it is.
by the way, are you “raising the roof” in your profile pic?
I’d add goofing off with me and nori to that list of reasons why you’re buzy, but you haven’t done that in a while either.
@KuyaD - most unfortunately
since you’re a xombie, i’ll forgive you for spelling EFFECT wrong. -= P
@wutuwaitn4 - i was soooo tired when i typed this… but you deffinitely got me
We’ll all going to become Xombies! We’re doooooomed!
I totally get Xombiefied late at night, unable to comment, looking at just one more site…kinda like channel surfing with tv. You nailed it.
This happens to me sometime, though not usually on Xanga. I get pulled into sites that are strictly for posting stories on and…err…yeah, I totally get Xombiefied sometimes. >< It’s so odd to see such a serious post from you after all of your funny ones–not to say that it isn’t well thought out, because it is. What really scares me is when I’m hanging out with my friends and I have to subtley attempt to disengage them from their computer. It’s like, “Hello! Real person actually standing in front of you. Pay attention to me!” It doesn’t bode well for the future of human interaction (which reminds of an anime called Chobits, since a big theme was just that: people spending more time with computers than with real people, or people in person).
cheer up! …in a year from now everything will be differant.
decades later we try eat our computer or laptop.=)
I used that word last year. Just not on the internet. I claim it. Mine.
This was basically the plot of Wall E.
I agree.
has to be better than being a MySpace whore or a Facebook Bitch
See… that’s what happened to those “vacationers” in WALL-E. Everything was automated for them. They could be sitting (hovering) right next to each other and still communicate via the computer. (Sadly, I admit to having done this with my bf. Our desks at home sit side by side, we’d be online, and if he’s too engrossed in what he’s viewing, I send him an IM: “Dinner?”, or something… and that can be quite pathetic.)
Anyway, The44thHour made mention of this post, so I came by. This is an insightful observation, and I hope other folks realize there’s more to Life than the “virtual” one.
xoxoxo,Xin
I have definitely fallen victim to that, especially lately….
I recently resubscribed to Xanga Mobile so I can do Xanga anywhere, anytime. In other words, I go out and take Xanga with me! We do too get out of our chairs!
…In about ten years or so, we’ll probably take the internet more for granted and spend less time on it. Maybe.
Well, I invented Xangaroni & Cheese.
@XINERGY - @adifferentkindofbeautiful - haha, two Wall-E comments and I haven’t even seen that movie, nor do I know anything about it.
oh dear ! I’m definitely a xombie, i just didn’t realize it !!
I’m a Xangadoodledandy!
I will have to say that while you are correct and it’s surely not healthy to hang out online all the time, I have to say that while I was sick and as I recover, it has given me access to life. Granted, it’s been a limited life but it’s been a life.
Michael
*hands eadie a soda while coaxing self to read just one more blog*
the point of not living this way is that it can destroy your life.
take me for example. throughout the entire week, i’ve been up til 1-2 am despite how tired i am after class and thesis meets… i’m not even working on the proposal like i should be since my submission is this monday. instead, i’m browsing the internet page after page… telling myself as the hours draw longer that i will log of soon but i don’t. i read xanga and fanfic until i fall asleep beside my laptop only to wake up and realize that i’m late for school.
i can’t order groceries unless i have money… i can’t have money as a nurse unless i graduate… and i definitely wont graduate unless i get my thesis done. this xombie effect is detrimental to my life…
i should be working on my thesis now… i just have a couple of sites to comment on… dan and revelife. it’ll just take a minute… until i find something new and distracting again.
damn… you’re right… good luck with life!
Haha your entry reminds me of that featured question “What would you do in the case of a zombie outbreak?”
Anyway, have you seen the movie “Wall-E” yet? In the future we’re all fat and have floating computer screens in front of us.
In the Matrix, we rely on these machines and computers, and eventually the machines take over based on our complacence and their consciousness.
In real life, it’s looking like our trend is not the machine plugging us in and making us simply an energy source, but rather WE our actively doing the job ourselves, purposefully ‘plugging in’ and relying so much on technology in general, personal computers in the specific. So we don’t need the threat of The Matrix’s true AI and conscious technology to be held hostage by our advancements, we do the job pretty well on our own.
that really creeped me out
now im going to have nightmares lol
I am the solution.
http://www.xombified.com/
sorry to break your claim
I have been working too many hours too.
I would think that, for me, real live girls is the savior from being xombiefied/xummified.
Great term you’ve coined there.
Its so bad to claim words, as they are free… I once thought I’d invented the words Marmajam and jamalade… but to my horror lots of people already had used it before me..
Being in zombie mood is just what happens … you are wasted in terms of comments… the tank is empty.. I’m already at the jerky, just out of gas point with comments. I spurt out huge gastly ones to try to make up for the fact I’m a lazy fucktard.
You’re wrong about the internet, being able to do all these things online means one thing to you. More time to do what you want. The trouble is, we’re all programmed to just watch tv, I reckon there’s a social revolution on the cards.. directly responsible will be the internet.
It should be among the basic human rights for every child on this planet to have, water, food, clean sanitation and internet access.
It’ll be our generation who realise this.
All the best
Owen
@OwenHiggins - that sounds scary though
When they said the world was round, someone in the audience said “that sounds scarey, what if we fell off…”
@OwenHiggins - heh