Wikipedia and Self-Induced Nightmares
One of my favourite webcomics, xkcd, is exactly right about the problem is Wikipedia. I can’t be the only one who has lost hours when clicking through random pages about Brazilian soda brands and oil reserves after looking up Queen Ranavalona I.
Sometimes, I’ll end up reading up on all the really grisly things that scare the hell out of me. Such as plane crashes. I’ve figured out a way I could manage to visit every single country on the planet, should I want (and be able to afford) to, without ever having to step foot on a plane.
You have no idea how happy this makes me. I like my forms of transportation firmly attached to Earth in one way or another.
Sure, sure, I’ve heard all the arguments. The number one most quoted is you’re more likely to die in a traffic accident than in an plane crash. That means nothing to me because 1) I never learned to drive, 2) I’m not particularly fond of cars anyway, 3) I’m betting a lot more people drive every day than get on a plane, and 4) it happens to somebody–so why not me?
Then sometimes I end up reading about the most prolific serial killers in history.
And other times I’ll just end up reading about The Ring. The American version1 scared me. It probably didn’t help that I first heard about it because they filmed some it at a (Christian!) summer camp I used to go to as a kid in a cabin that already had various murderous stories associated with it. Plus, that child frightens me. Once, several years ago on my ancient Dell laptop2, everything I was typing into my computer was appearing backwards (siht ekil tsuj) and I was convinced Samara was going to pop out of my screen and kill me.
My fears are completely irrational, I know.
I really know how to induce nightmares in myself which is why it’s good I’ve recently learned that I Can Has Cheezburger is a cure for nightmares. True facts.
Now if only I knew how to tear myself away from Wikipedia.
- Actually, I find Sadako in Ringu to be more terrifying than Samara. The look in her eyes is particularly terrifying. ↩
- This was pre-OS X conversion, clearly–though I was lusting after PowerBooks at the time, but when you have a crap Dell laptop with broken hinges and a 400 MHz processor, anything above 1.0 GHz looks so sexy it becomes difficult to breathe. ↩
Posted by Donna on 25 February 2008 at 00:36
Filed Under: Life, Rambling
Tagged: comics, cute, fears, scary, wikipedia
17 Comments
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You are so not the only one who’s clicked on one random link after another on Wikipedia and OMG I CLICK ON THE RING TOO. The whole plot just… creeps me out but it’s so original and creative.
The scariest thing I’ve read about on Wiki is the Xenu article though. It’s not even particularly violent or anything, but it’s so creepy and gave me nightmares D=
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You are not alone, V. I spent one afternoon researching on Wikipedia about computer viruses for my Computer Concepts class. After a few hours, I realized I had read about the People’s Republic of China, Harry Connick Jr, infrared photography, and quantum logic.
And now, because I can’t fight my curiosity, I’m going to go Wiki The Ring. I’ve watched it, but was more creeped out by Ringu. Actually, one midnight I woke up, looked around in the darkness of my room, and was convinced that Sadako was looking straight at me. I threw my blanket at the object and realized that it was my electric fan.
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I should see Ringu, because The Ring definitely scared me. I also have that Wikipedia problem. :)
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Wikipedia, for me, is even more addicting than ColourLovers!! Ha ha.
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I usually end up clicking through stuff to do with psychology, through the related articles links. It drives me insane because I waste so much time on there.
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Sometimes I Wikipedia comparative religious end-times theology.
And sometimes I just Wikipedia Disney Channel actors and TV shows.
I’m not obsessed with Wikipedia, though.
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I could waste my entire life away on Wikipedia. Start on an article about Jensen Ackles (¬_¬… what?) and end up on an articles for the largest known star, schizophrenia and amputations. Then I’ll go for more!
I find serial killers fascinating. I own more than my share of books on the topic, its grisly, yes, but its also interesting to see the human mind pushed to the limits of depravity. My “favorite” is Albert Fish. If you haven’t yet, look him up and go on another Wikipedia adventure. ;)
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I love how Wikipedia is such a haven for random facts, I’d probably never have across if I read a book — like how I discovered that some man had hiccups for most of his life after suffering an accident while chopping something. I swear, those “related links” suck my time away so easily, ’cause I just keep reading, and scrolling, and pressing the link at the bottom of the article!
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I didn’t think The Ring was that scary, but that’s funny about your computer.
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LOL at Samara popping out of your computer screen! I’m probably the only person who hasn’t seen The Ring. I think I’m too lazy to rent it. But the girl who plays Samara has grown up and is really pretty now.
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@Samm: Have you ever seen Donnie Darko? She played Donnie’s younger sister. It took me about five times to realise it was the same kid!
Yes, lol it took me the same amount of time as well!
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I love Wikipedia, too. It’s just an endless source of entertainment, and it’s so easy to get distracted in all the links. I often start at one article, then open up five more in different tabs while reading through it.
Sometimes my friends and I play games to see who can get from one page (e.g. pencil) to another page (e.g. Mars) the quickest. It’s fun!
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First off, I seriously owe Wiki my first born child.
Secondly, I’ve had the same thing happen to me. Last week I wanted to know something about Nathan Lane and before I actually left Wiki I was looking at the historic information of Hudson County, New Jersey. lol.
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I love wikipedia so hard, and I spend a lot of time there too. I have an irrational fear of scary movies so no Ring trivia for me man!
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i can’t get enough of wiki…….
anyways.. he original japnai can’t get enough of wiki…….
anyways.. i watched the original japanese version…. i didn’t want to answer the phone for like 2 weeks. and i heard like 2 people died of heart attack in the cinema…
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17 Comments