imagine the seam my clothes were in rags
I’m covered in blood I’m in the car the
kids in the car are exhausted their
clothes are similarly in tatters there’s
more blood than there should be
but we’re driving away
we’re escaping we’ve survived and we’re
driving away from the country’s
first-ever zombie run area we survived
we survived a wonderful afternoon
running the gauntlet against the zombies
we ran through fields we ran through the
woods chased by zombies some of which
are fast some fortunately rather slow
and oddly enough some where in roller
skates a strange but wonderful afternoon
and it’s a long journey home so I
thought it might be a nice idea to take
the kids to McDonald’s now there was a
slight concerning aback my mind thinking
walking into McDonald’s like zombie
survivors may cause a little bit of
alarm imagine this walking into your
local Macky Dee’s I needn’t have worried
hardly a sideways glance everybody just
focused on their own stuff simply not
taking in what’s going on around them
and it’s at that point I realize that we
are surrounded by modern zombies and the
more I look the more I see in fact there
may be some in this very room take a
cautious glance to your left and your
right what do you see what do you really
see
because this magical technical world
that we live in is reducing our ability
to truly perceive what’s around us we
are struggling to see beyond the screens
and it’s changing who we are now my
beautiful fiancee and I we love to dance
big fans of dancing and a little while
ago for my birthday we took ourselves
off for a weekend of dancing there’s
live music and a dance floor and I’m a
massive observer of people I’m
fascinated by watching people and I’m
watching the dance floor and there’s a
big guy and his partner on the floor and
it’s beautiful to watch because he’s
dancing like nobody is watching he is
really into the music he’s letting quite
literally he’s letting it all hang out
and he’s dancing away and it looks
amazing I’m fascinated I’m loving it and
then the band changed tact
they put a slow song on ah love is in
the air he’s got his arms draped over
his partner and they dancing it’s
beautiful dancing and he’s texting over
a shoulder he’s texting the slight cynic
inside of me just from moment Wonder’s
is he texting his wife to let her know
he’s gonna be late he’s dancing a slow
song and he’s texting now should I be
outraged or is this the new normal the
stats tell us that we look at our
smartphones a hundred and fifty times a
day not 10 minutes can go by without us
craving a little bit of a fiddle on my
phone alone I’ve got in excess of 30
apps that allow me to communicate in one
way or another with my fellow humans and
I get it the tech it’s awesome the tech
is amazing it’s beautiful it’s sleek
it’s amazing like a mirage in the desert
we are drawn to it
and we love it why wouldn’t we love it
everything we could ever want to know
it’s right here instantly available at
our fingertips I thought I would test
that theory so I asked okay Google can
cats laugh 2.3 million responses
supposedly yes they can but not as much
as dogs
okay Google can whales dance 3.8 million
responses opened up a whole can of worms
okay Google what a chair look like if my
knees were on the other way around 1.7
million responses and videos and what
are we doing with this amazing almost
immeasurable power that we have for too
many of us we’re using it to watch funny
cat videos no wonder the cats are
laughing they’re laughing at us and I
see a whole generation simply obsessed
addicted to their screens loving their
screens sharing the most intimate
secrets with their technology living
their lives through their tech rather
than around it a generation that would
rather view a an Instagram feel rather
than see what the world actually looks
like filters versus reality
I see offices filled with the undead
modern zombies who are connected
having email conversations now that the
research says that most email responses
are no more than five words long that’s
not a conversation you may have fallen
into this trap you may have begun to
feel that zombie virus within you may
have
sat at your desk and sent an email to
your colleague who’s actually just over
there
but I’ll ping them a quick email and
then wonder where the response is I’ll
chase up with another email they’re
still over there rather than get up walk
10 paces and have a real human
interaction the zombie virus is
everywhere and not only am I really keen
observer but I’ve raised my game I’ve
started taking pictures which thinking
about it makes me sound a bit like a bit
like a stalker actually I’m taking
pictures of modern zombies so I’m in a
bar it’s a Sunday evening and in walk a
couple I can just imagine the
conversation they’ve had that evening
should we go out we don’t go out much
come on let’s go out it’ll be great Oh
that’d be lovely yes let me take you out
get your coat
don’t forget your phone you want to see
what the modern zombies look like there
they are
I’ve taken this from a bit of a distance
that’s our stalkers seem to work and
I’ve cleverly covered their identity let
me help you out a little bit there we go
that’s a big night out that is modern
zombies they are everywhere so I was in
a coffee shop observing and I just
imagine the conversation of John fancy
coffee want to go for a coffee yes mate
lesson gets me and you let’s go for a
coffee
nice brew okay there we go
let me help you’re at again modern
zombies they’re everywhere
and possibly in this room right now so
I’m just like the zombies we we don’t
tend to use our eyes as much as we used
to
zombies with their dead eyes we don’t
seem to interact with that emotion and
empathy like we used to like the
shuffling zombies who are constantly
moving towards their next food source
we’ve not got time to stop and really
listen and those moans and groans that
you hear from the zombie horde
not dissimilar to the way we now give
feedback we don’t really give sentiment
we just give likes to posts surely this
magical technology that we have should
enable more human interactions rather
than replace them now if you’re
wondering and starting to get little bit
worried that the zombie virus is
affecting you there’s a simple zombie
test I can offer you you just check
first of all how many of you in the
audience own a smartphone so a show of
hands okay how many of you left that
smartphone at home today
on purpose yes one out of many so for
most of us this test is kind of a rather
awkward okay what I suggest you do you
grab your phone it’s never far away you
grab your phone and you switch it off if
you can remember how that’s done you
switch it off and you put it down and
you start walking away you leave it
behind and the more naked and
uncomfortable you feel the more the
zombie virus charges through your veins
that fear we have of missing out FOMO
it has its own dictionary definition
that fear is all-encompassing a text
message can interrupt even the most
intimate conversation I know you’re
telling me that you love me but let me
just check who this is the ping of an
email will just simply distract us from
any task hold on
I’ve just got a check who’s who needs me
and that fanfare of a news story will
just draw us away from anything else we
seem to be living through the stories of
other people rather than creating
stories of our very own now I know
there’s no going back I’m not suggesting
let’s unplug our technology light the
candles and crowd around the campfire
not suggesting that at all in fact our
technology is going to get better faster
slowly it’s going to be even more
amazing we’re going to be even more
connected but try not to mistake that
idea of being connected with human
connection in fact oddly enough that
human to human interaction is becoming
quite rare it’s become a bit of a an art
form that’s practiced by the few helped
out how did that happen how did we let
that happen we rely so much on our tech
for our communication but we don’t
really need to meet face to face anymore
in fact we don’t even want to meet face
to face anymore and our language is is
shrinking into a much shorter form emoji
filled ticker-tape so what so what this
is progress this is evolution as my son
would say
don’t worry about it dad don’t worry
about it well I am a tad concerned and
we all should be rather worried because
if you really want to connect if you
want to connect with a fellow human in a
way that really resonates you’ve got to
communicate in a human-to-human way
that’s the only way to truly get through
to your audience if we’re living through
the stories of others we’re not having
our own adventures which means we don’t
have our own stories the things that
give life such color what are we going
to tell our grandkids so granddad what
was it like when you are growing up
don’t ask me you googling how humans are
our interactions how many people have
you spoken to compared with how many
emails have you sent how many real
conversations have you been involved in
compared with those snapchat stories
that you’ve observed have you looked
colleagues and friends in the eye or if
you just pinged them some content here’s
a question for you if Facebook had a new
button and that button said instead of
just letting you know when it’s your
friends birthdays what we’ll do we will
wish them happy birthday automatically
on your behalf would you click that
button it feels like we’re having
adventures it’s just noise we’re just
feeding this ocean of noise and that
noise is the noise of the zombie horde
and which drowning so I suggest we
become the survivors
we pick up our metaphorical machetes
because there are some zombies to slay
we dare to be different and it takes
real courage it used to be that much
easier but if you’ve got a thousand
emails in your inbox you’re never going
to get round two you have to text your
kids to let them know tea’s ready
because shouting up the stairs doesn’t
work anymore if you’re struggling to
finish your assignments because you’re
you’re stuck in a youtube loop and you
know the zombie virus is coming to get
you so we need to be brave we need to be
even more creative than we’ve ever been
we need to embrace these human
adventures we need to be vulnerable and
give of ourselves our true authentic
self rather than just a profile we need
to tell our stories with real human
emotion and we need to stop and listen
really listen with our whole selves so I
implore you to be brave dare to be
different because the virus is
everywhere
so have the courage to stand up stand
out and dare to be human thank
you
I’m covered in blood I’m in the car the
kids in the car are exhausted their
clothes are similarly in tatters there’s
more blood than there should be
but we’re driving away
we’re escaping we’ve survived and we’re
driving away from the country’s
first-ever zombie run area we survived
we survived a wonderful afternoon
running the gauntlet against the zombies
we ran through fields we ran through the
woods chased by zombies some of which
are fast some fortunately rather slow
and oddly enough some where in roller
skates a strange but wonderful afternoon
and it’s a long journey home so I
thought it might be a nice idea to take
the kids to McDonald’s now there was a
slight concerning aback my mind thinking
walking into McDonald’s like zombie
survivors may cause a little bit of
alarm imagine this walking into your
local Macky Dee’s I needn’t have worried
hardly a sideways glance everybody just
focused on their own stuff simply not
taking in what’s going on around them
and it’s at that point I realize that we
are surrounded by modern zombies and the
more I look the more I see in fact there
may be some in this very room take a
cautious glance to your left and your
right what do you see what do you really
see
because this magical technical world
that we live in is reducing our ability
to truly perceive what’s around us we
are struggling to see beyond the screens
and it’s changing who we are now my
beautiful fiancee and I we love to dance
big fans of dancing and a little while
ago for my birthday we took ourselves
off for a weekend of dancing there’s
live music and a dance floor and I’m a
massive observer of people I’m
fascinated by watching people and I’m
watching the dance floor and there’s a
big guy and his partner on the floor and
it’s beautiful to watch because he’s
dancing like nobody is watching he is
really into the music he’s letting quite
literally he’s letting it all hang out
and he’s dancing away and it looks
amazing I’m fascinated I’m loving it and
then the band changed tact
they put a slow song on ah love is in
the air he’s got his arms draped over
his partner and they dancing it’s
beautiful dancing and he’s texting over
a shoulder he’s texting the slight cynic
inside of me just from moment Wonder’s
is he texting his wife to let her know
he’s gonna be late he’s dancing a slow
song and he’s texting now should I be
outraged or is this the new normal the
stats tell us that we look at our
smartphones a hundred and fifty times a
day not 10 minutes can go by without us
craving a little bit of a fiddle on my
phone alone I’ve got in excess of 30
apps that allow me to communicate in one
way or another with my fellow humans and
I get it the tech it’s awesome the tech
is amazing it’s beautiful it’s sleek
it’s amazing like a mirage in the desert
we are drawn to it
and we love it why wouldn’t we love it
everything we could ever want to know
it’s right here instantly available at
our fingertips I thought I would test
that theory so I asked okay Google can
cats laugh 2.3 million responses
supposedly yes they can but not as much
as dogs
okay Google can whales dance 3.8 million
responses opened up a whole can of worms
okay Google what a chair look like if my
knees were on the other way around 1.7
million responses and videos and what
are we doing with this amazing almost
immeasurable power that we have for too
many of us we’re using it to watch funny
cat videos no wonder the cats are
laughing they’re laughing at us and I
see a whole generation simply obsessed
addicted to their screens loving their
screens sharing the most intimate
secrets with their technology living
their lives through their tech rather
than around it a generation that would
rather view a an Instagram feel rather
than see what the world actually looks
like filters versus reality
I see offices filled with the undead
modern zombies who are connected
having email conversations now that the
research says that most email responses
are no more than five words long that’s
not a conversation you may have fallen
into this trap you may have begun to
feel that zombie virus within you may
have
sat at your desk and sent an email to
your colleague who’s actually just over
there
but I’ll ping them a quick email and
then wonder where the response is I’ll
chase up with another email they’re
still over there rather than get up walk
10 paces and have a real human
interaction the zombie virus is
everywhere and not only am I really keen
observer but I’ve raised my game I’ve
started taking pictures which thinking
about it makes me sound a bit like a bit
like a stalker actually I’m taking
pictures of modern zombies so I’m in a
bar it’s a Sunday evening and in walk a
couple I can just imagine the
conversation they’ve had that evening
should we go out we don’t go out much
come on let’s go out it’ll be great Oh
that’d be lovely yes let me take you out
get your coat
don’t forget your phone you want to see
what the modern zombies look like there
they are
I’ve taken this from a bit of a distance
that’s our stalkers seem to work and
I’ve cleverly covered their identity let
me help you out a little bit there we go
that’s a big night out that is modern
zombies they are everywhere so I was in
a coffee shop observing and I just
imagine the conversation of John fancy
coffee want to go for a coffee yes mate
lesson gets me and you let’s go for a
coffee
nice brew okay there we go
let me help you’re at again modern
zombies they’re everywhere
and possibly in this room right now so
I’m just like the zombies we we don’t
tend to use our eyes as much as we used
to
zombies with their dead eyes we don’t
seem to interact with that emotion and
empathy like we used to like the
shuffling zombies who are constantly
moving towards their next food source
we’ve not got time to stop and really
listen and those moans and groans that
you hear from the zombie horde
not dissimilar to the way we now give
feedback we don’t really give sentiment
we just give likes to posts surely this
magical technology that we have should
enable more human interactions rather
than replace them now if you’re
wondering and starting to get little bit
worried that the zombie virus is
affecting you there’s a simple zombie
test I can offer you you just check
first of all how many of you in the
audience own a smartphone so a show of
hands okay how many of you left that
smartphone at home today
on purpose yes one out of many so for
most of us this test is kind of a rather
awkward okay what I suggest you do you
grab your phone it’s never far away you
grab your phone and you switch it off if
you can remember how that’s done you
switch it off and you put it down and
you start walking away you leave it
behind and the more naked and
uncomfortable you feel the more the
zombie virus charges through your veins
that fear we have of missing out FOMO
it has its own dictionary definition
that fear is all-encompassing a text
message can interrupt even the most
intimate conversation I know you’re
telling me that you love me but let me
just check who this is the ping of an
email will just simply distract us from
any task hold on
I’ve just got a check who’s who needs me
and that fanfare of a news story will
just draw us away from anything else we
seem to be living through the stories of
other people rather than creating
stories of our very own now I know
there’s no going back I’m not suggesting
let’s unplug our technology light the
candles and crowd around the campfire
not suggesting that at all in fact our
technology is going to get better faster
slowly it’s going to be even more
amazing we’re going to be even more
connected but try not to mistake that
idea of being connected with human
connection in fact oddly enough that
human to human interaction is becoming
quite rare it’s become a bit of a an art
form that’s practiced by the few helped
out how did that happen how did we let
that happen we rely so much on our tech
for our communication but we don’t
really need to meet face to face anymore
in fact we don’t even want to meet face
to face anymore and our language is is
shrinking into a much shorter form emoji
filled ticker-tape so what so what this
is progress this is evolution as my son
would say
don’t worry about it dad don’t worry
about it well I am a tad concerned and
we all should be rather worried because
if you really want to connect if you
want to connect with a fellow human in a
way that really resonates you’ve got to
communicate in a human-to-human way
that’s the only way to truly get through
to your audience if we’re living through
the stories of others we’re not having
our own adventures which means we don’t
have our own stories the things that
give life such color what are we going
to tell our grandkids so granddad what
was it like when you are growing up
don’t ask me you googling how humans are
our interactions how many people have
you spoken to compared with how many
emails have you sent how many real
conversations have you been involved in
compared with those snapchat stories
that you’ve observed have you looked
colleagues and friends in the eye or if
you just pinged them some content here’s
a question for you if Facebook had a new
button and that button said instead of
just letting you know when it’s your
friends birthdays what we’ll do we will
wish them happy birthday automatically
on your behalf would you click that
button it feels like we’re having
adventures it’s just noise we’re just
feeding this ocean of noise and that
noise is the noise of the zombie horde
and which drowning so I suggest we
become the survivors
we pick up our metaphorical machetes
because there are some zombies to slay
we dare to be different and it takes
real courage it used to be that much
easier but if you’ve got a thousand
emails in your inbox you’re never going
to get round two you have to text your
kids to let them know tea’s ready
because shouting up the stairs doesn’t
work anymore if you’re struggling to
finish your assignments because you’re
you’re stuck in a youtube loop and you
know the zombie virus is coming to get
you so we need to be brave we need to be
even more creative than we’ve ever been
we need to embrace these human
adventures we need to be vulnerable and
give of ourselves our true authentic
self rather than just a profile we need
to tell our stories with real human
emotion and we need to stop and listen
really listen with our whole selves so I
implore you to be brave dare to be
different because the virus is
everywhere
so have the courage to stand up stand
out and dare to be human thank
you
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