This semester I took a course called adaptation to climate
change. In it, we discussed how communities respond during disastrous events, how
they may become more resilient in the aftermath, and general sentiments
regarding environmentalism—which often include a kind of fatalistic outlook.
Professors in the environmental studies department try not to appear “doom and
gloom” about the state of the world and the rate in which we exploit our
natural resources and destruct nature. Inevitably, one can become hung up on
such attitudes in the environmental field, which one of my professor calls “an
infatuation with fatalism.”
The explosion of zombies in our culture seems to reflect a
societal scale of an infatuation with fatalism. As we’ve discussed in class,
zombies serve as a metaphor for many things, including a fear of the
unknown. We’ve come to understand the many things and
fears zombies represent, but we maybe, mostly don’t know why our society is
hung-up on feelings of anxiety, fear, or the unknown.
I know I don’t know why we have the tendency for an
infatuation with fatality, but I see this everywhere. I see this pessimistic,
anxious mindset, ingested and regurgitated on the media and in my interactions
with friends and coworkers. Our news headlines and front page text of magazines
always consist of some kind of gruesome or disturbing one-liner that dramatically
exacerbates the situation this news source has intended to inform us about. Broadcasters
and news anchors who covered the Boston marathon tragedy ping-ponged questions such
as, “do you think this attack was domestic or not?” back and forth another for
hours, even though no one had a way of knowing yet. These questions and this
anxiety everyone felt was framed as news; part of their job that day was to
mirror our fear and anxieties, resulting in more general fear and paranoia
amongst the masses.
I see this collective, team-work effort of anxiety building
among students at the library and coworkers. I always witness this interaction
once during a visit to the library.
“Hey I haven’t seen you in so long, what’s up?”
“Ugh studying for my exam/writing a _ page paper/ preparing
for my_/working on a project that counts for _part of my grade…I’m so screwed”
“Aw man that sucks, I’m studying for my exam/writing a _
page paper/ preparing for my_/working on a project that counts for _part of my
grade…shoot me now right?”
And then both people continue to go on and list each of
their academic and personal responsibilities they have to accomplish, as if it
was a contest. Whoever has the most tasks to fulfill wins. And for some people,
this is a victory. They like seeming as if they’re the busiest or most
accomplished. Because sometimes for them it feel smart, or important.
What this interaction also serves to do, is provide an
outlet for anxiety. It’s a little backhanded though, because at the same time,
it generates more anxiety. The person who does not win the “I have more going
on in my life than you do” match now suddenly feels stressed out that they have
all these things to do, but they’re still not the busiest or seemingly more
important in comparison to those who lead similar lifestyles in which it makes
sense to compete in this match with one another. This in and of itself is not representative of
an infatuation with fatality, but is born from the same place.