Ask McFartnuggets: “Why Do People Take Selfies?”

Dear McFartnuggets: 

Why do so many people take selfies nowadays? It seems so stupid. People take selfies even when there are friends with them who can take photos of them! It just makes no sense to me! Why is this a new thing? People would have had the ability to take photos of themselves holding a camera in front of their face decades ago but no one did it back then. People would sooner give their camera to a damned stranger and let them take a photo of them instead of just hold the camera in front of their dumb head to take the photo. What changed to make selfies okay? That behavior would have been seen as crazy back then and now it’s totally acceptable? What gives? -- Tyler from St. Paul, Minnesota

Dear Tyler:

Why do people take selfies? You may as well ask why do people masturbate? I can’t speak to other people’s motivations, but I can tell you why I do it... If you want something done right you have to do it yourself! You fail to remember that scene from “National Lampoon’s European Vacation” where the Griswolds had their camera stolen by a stranger when they gave it to him to take their picture. These days there’s no more of that nonsense. These days Clark would have just taken out his selfie stick and pointed the camera at the whole family and that would have been that. Sure he’d look stupid, but not as stupid as he looked when that bozo ran off with his camera. Ultimately, it’s all about independence and moving away from needing other people. If we limit our interactions with others we don’t leave ourselves vulnerable to their actions. We as a society have grown more and more fearful and distrusting of others, sometimes understandably, sometimes out of thoughtless paranoia. Bottom line, we fear strangers and will do whatever we can not to rely on them, even if it’s something as silly as taking a photo. Also if you take a selfie with friends, or as I call it a “frielfie” you can get everyone in the shot and no one is excluded by having to be the picture taker.

Taking selfies is nature's way.

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