[Zombody]

Let’s assume you’ve been surviving the zombie apocalypse. Life has changed in many ways, and the life you and others once knew is gone.

Do you believe in maintaining fragments of the past? Do you believe you would try to keep hold of certain aspects of the life you once lived in order to maintain a sense of balance? For instance, would you still keep track of time? Would you continue to celebrate birthdays? Would you tidy what no longer needs to be tidied?

I remember when Dale (Walking Dead) was tending to his watch, which lead others to question why he bothered with this watch when time, to a large extent, was no longer of relevance. I can’t quite remember his response, though I do remember it being a very interesting response.

In the apocalypse, many ordinary things would slip away from us. Come Christmas, do we dig up a tree and hold a small celebration? When tomorrow arrives, do we call it 'Monday'? Do we continue to carry fragments of our past lives or do we accept nothing but the reality that the world we knew is gone?

[Faran Brigo]

Personally, I don't keep track of what day it is and the ZPAW hasn't happened. I use the cell phone's agenda to remind me to do stuff. Often I can't even remember what I had for breakfast. I don't like getting my picture taken, I don't take pictures, I don't do parties or ceremonies (religious or otherwise), and if I have kept something, it's often from being too lazy to replace/dump it. So... Probably not, I don't have much to hang on to, to begin with.

There's no point in getting too attached to anything. You may highly enjoy anything you have, but it's not really yours, you and it (or her/him) temporarily coincided in the 6,000 years and several billion lives of human history, and hundreds of thousands of square miles of geography. You will die, and she/he will die, and whatever objects you treasure now will eventually break down to nothing. Even your ideas or whatever you said will be forgotten.

In the end, existance only really begs you one question, whether you are satisfied with what you have done or have regrets. Whether you have lived in despair, or not. Seems to me hanging on to things is a very effective way to live in despair for what once was and will never be again.

[Assassin42]

Yes I would maintain some of the fragments. Otherwise what is the point of surviving if not trying to maintain and maybe bring back civilization?

[Faran Brigo]

Assassin42, on 09 July 2012 - 06:07 AM, said:

Yes I would maintain some of the fragments. Otherwise what is the point of surviving if not trying to maintain and maybe bring back civilization?

There seems to be a difference between rebuilding civilization and keeping useless junk clean and wasting effort on gestures.

[MrOrange]

Faran Brigo, on 08 July 2012 - 10:30 PM, said:

Personally, I don't keep track of what day it is and the ZPAW hasn't happened. I use the cell phone's agenda to remind me to do stuff. Often I can't even remember what I had for breakfast. I don't like getting my picture taken, I don't take pictures, I don't do parties or ceremonies (religious or otherwise), and if I have kept something, it's often from being too lazy to replace/dump it. So... Probably not, I don't have much to hang on to, to begin with.

There's no point in getting too attached to anything. You may highly enjoy anything you have, but it's not really yours, you and it (or her/him) temporarily coincided in the 6,000 years and several billion lives of human history, and hundreds of thousands of square miles of geography. You will die, and she/he will die, and whatever objects you treasure now will eventually break down to nothing. Even your ideas or whatever you said will be forgotten.

In the end, existance only really begs you one question, whether you are satisfied with what you have done or have regrets. Whether you have lived in despair, or not. Seems to me hanging on to things is a very effective way to live in despair for what once was and will never be again.

You know I don't really keep track of the days much really either, and I don't have a cell phone, I rarely eat breakfast and no I don't like pictures, but one thing that I know for sure is that I love my kids and I hope that they will continue on even after I am gone.

[Faran Brigo]

MrOrange, on 09 July 2012 - 02:28 PM, said:

You know I don't really keep track of the days much really either, and I don't have a cell phone, I rarely eat breakfast and no I don't like pictures, but one thing that I know for sure is that I love my kids and I hope that they will continue on even after I am gone.

You don't structure your whole life around that though, and when they're old enough to make it on their own, you'll have to let go (or maybe they are and you already have?). They'll always be your kids, but still their lives are their own. I wasn't talking about generalized apathy, simply avoiding unhealthy attachments.

[Vorpal]

Faran Brigo, on 08 July 2012 - 10:30 PM, said:

Personally, I don't keep track of what day it is and the ZPAW hasn't happened. I use the cell phone's agenda to remind me to do stuff. Often I can't even remember what I had for breakfast. I don't like getting my picture taken, I don't take pictures, I don't do parties or ceremonies (religious or otherwise), and if I have kept something, it's often from being too lazy to replace/dump it. So... Probably not, I don't have much to hang on to, to begin with.

There's no point in getting too attached to anything. You may highly enjoy anything you have, but it's not really yours, you and it (or her/him) temporarily coincided in the 6,000 years and several billion lives of human history, and hundreds of thousands of square miles of geography. You will die, and she/he will die, and whatever objects you treasure now will eventually break down to nothing. Even your ideas or whatever you said will be forgotten.

In the end, existance only really begs you one question, whether you are satisfied with what you have done or have regrets. Whether you have lived in despair, or not. Seems to me hanging on to things is a very effective way to live in despair for what once was and will never be again.

I have a different viewpoint. Keeping track of time could be of use. You can use it to coordinate with others. It might be necessary for figuring out how much daylight is left. Knowing the time of the year helps decide when to plant crops.


I'm not sure what you mean by things not really being yours. It's mine as long as it's in my possession.

As for daily rituals that may seem wasteful to you, it may bring peace of mind to others. Also, It would be easier to bring back civilization (to the way it was) when people aren't acting like savages. Now, i'm not saying not cleaning makes a person a savage, but civilized society has maintained a general level of cleanliness. Keeping a semblance of order is but a small step towards bringing back civilization. "One small step for man, ..."

[Faran Brigo]

Vorpal, on 10 July 2012 - 08:36 PM, said:

I have a different viewpoint. Keeping track of time could be of use. You can use it to coordinate with others. It might be necessary for figuring out how much daylight is left. Knowing the time of the year helps decide when to plant crops.


I'm not sure what you mean by things not really being yours. It's mine as long as it's in my possession.

As for daily rituals that may seem wasteful to you, it may bring peace of mind to others. Also, It would be easier to bring back civilization (to the way it was) when people aren't acting like savages. Now, i'm not saying not cleaning makes a person a savage, but civilized society has maintained a general level of cleanliness. Keeping a semblance of order is but a small step towards bringing back civilization. "One small step for man, ..."

I thought the original question was about doing otherwise impractical things simply because they maintain a semblance of continuity or normality. If keeping the date allows you to feed yourself, that's not really clinging to fragments of the past, but acting about present needs, in the same way that keeping a pre-collapse weapon or tool that works is satisfying a present need.

The second part of your response is personal, and that's how I answered. For me, there would be no point. That doesn't make it universally true, it is simply true for me.

[Vorpal]

Faran Brigo, on 10 July 2012 - 10:48 PM, said:

I thought the original question was about doing otherwise impractical things simply because they maintain a semblance of continuity or normality. If keeping the date allows you to feed yourself, that's not really clinging to fragments of the past, but acting about present needs, in the same way that keeping a pre-collapse weapon or tool that works is satisfying a present need.

The second part of your response is personal, and that's how I answered. For me, there would be no point. That doesn't make it universally true, it is simply true for me.

I was mainly pointing out that time keeping is something useful and isn't something impractical.


While i agree that each of our responses is personal for each person that gave a response, some things that we do would make an easier attempt to return society back to the way it was before a ZPAW.*




*I should mention that there are probably people that want society to be much different than the way it was, but those people are less likely to be the ones maintaining fragments of the past that weren't opposing societal norms.

[MorganaLeFaye]

watches would still be important. A group would need to each have one, so when they seperate to do things, they can know how long they are apart and know when it's time to get back to home base.