10 Ways to Die (or Seriously Hurt Yourself) While Taking a Selfie

Just, you know, FYI.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Selfies have been around since humans first started scratching pictures on cave walls. Back then they were just called self-portraits, but as people started shedding three-piece suits and top hats for skinny jeans and snapbacks, the self portrait has been abbreviated, informalized, and immortalized as the selfie. In 2013, we hit a turning point: Oxford English Dictionary named selfie the word of the year, a selfie made the cover of the New York Post last Wednesday, and scientists are even conducting studies on selfies. The desire for instant self-portraits has taken control of body and mind, and as a society, we are slowly killing ourselves by selfie. As people feel the need to document themselves literally everywhere, the natural ability to be aware and protect oneself from imminent danger disappears. It will not be Global Warming or the Apocalypse that leads to the end of humanity, but rather our inability to stop taking pictures of ourselves at any and every given moment.

Just imagine: alien's finally make it to Earth, but are met with complete destruction; crumpled buildings and overturned cars are all that remain. And what about us? Leftover smartphones scattered next to decaying remains document humans last moments on Earth. Here’s how it’s about to go down.

Lauren Schwartzberg is a New York-based freelance writer. You can troll for rare selfies of her on Twitter, @LaurSchwar.  

#BikingSelfie

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