Welcome to zombie culture! No, it does not refer to a culture where people cosplay with fake blood or have fangs in place of their canine teeth. It refers to the modern-day world. The present; where people exhibit thoughtlessness, unfocused thinking, unrealistic demands, and so on.
When looking at the happenings around us, traits of zombie behaviour are straightforwardly witnessed. The killing of unarmed men by the police, having individuals who exhibit crass behaviour holding high positions, having a dreadful competition between politicians all around the world, the thoughtlessness of school authorities behind overburdening students with unending work — all show how zombie-like behaviour still exists. We are living in a world driven by zombie culture where non-critical thinking is the norm.
On one hand, we come across news of people inhumanely killing each other, while on the other, the inevitability of death is constantly forestalled in this world of endless reboots and remakes. We see our favourite movie characters coming back to life again and again to continue the franchise. The same is experienced in books and novels. And that’s the reason most of us refuse to even contemplate the death of our most liked character. We resist change. We are unwilling to let things conclude or end. Deep inside, we are all aware that in order to get something new, there’s a need to let go of the old. But we refuse to do that — we prefer clinging onto the old. Aside from a few problem areas where people agitate for change, we are generally desperate to maintain our status quo.
This even extends to the sphere of business. Companies are obsessed with getting clients to purchase their products but simply ignore the possibility of failure of their products. The makers of plastic only considered how useful it’ll be, completely not thinking about ways for its proper disposal. This is why plastic has become a killer of nature and one of the main reasons for its deteriorating condition. Planning for the end isn’t always futile. However, not planning for it at times leads to dire consequences. Addressing death is not necessarily pleasant and can seem a bit morbid, but deciding how to divvy up your estate, how you want your remains handled, and whether you need life insurance can make the process much easier and less painful for your loved ones. And yet, we still shy away from the topic until it’s too late.
We even see social platforms embracing digital death— Snapchat’s and Instagram’s feature of disappearing content after 24 hours and stories are giving way to this concept. Netflix is proud of its no-fuss cancellation process that is neither hidden nor complicated, and they seem to be doing rather well historically. The idea of the end might feel unpleasant, but ultimately it is a part of life.
– Ishani Singh, Amity International School, Noida
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