A Millennial has died in Spain while taking a selfie due to being too self-absorbed to look behind her and realize that she was about to fall off the ledge of an abyss. Sylwia Rajchel was “balancing” (apparently not too skillfully) on the edge of a bridge, trying to snap a photo of herself when she went a bit too far, slipped, and plunged to her death on the concrete below, The Examiner reports.
Her death is not the first, and it will not be the last. She joins a long list of victims who have been injured or killed while trying to take a selfie. People have fallen from cliffs, and a man shot himself in the face while trying to take a selfie with a gun. There have been people who have drowned, fell, crashed their car and suffered other deadly disasters while taking selfies.
Selfies increase the risk of death and injury because of their effect on narcissism. Studies have shown that selfies are linked to narcissistic personality disorder, addiction, mental illness, depression and, surprisingly, low self-esteem. As Time Magazine reports, the addiction to selfies can become so severe that it can even cause suicide.
The increase in narcissistic behavior due to selfies is directly to blame for the deaths of Rajchel and everyone who has lost their lives to this affliction of self-absorption. More will surely die, and while some would call these deaths “tragedies,” others would say they represent Darwin at his finest.
The most merciful thing to happen moving forward is if selfies would end up ridding the world of all Millennials due to their being too self-absorbed to look behind them when standing on a precipice. Then, society could start fresh with a new generation who could be kept away from screens entirely. It is obvious that too much usage of smartphones, computers, laptops and tablets has robbed today’s young people of any sense they would have otherwise had.
