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    Today in Tech

    Survey reveals people would rather live without cars and light bulbs than give up Facebook

    Would you rather give up social networking or indoor plumbing?

    Attempting to compile a list of your most treasured items and services is no small task. How do you list specific things in order of importance when you couldn't bare to live without any of them? That's just what the London Science Museum asked 3,000 British adults to do, and the results may surprise you. It seems that things like clean clothes and indoor plumbing aren't quite as important as a daily social networking fix, since Facebook — which appears as the #5 most important "thing" — beat out washing machines and toilets.

    Just 4 things managed to eke out more love on the surprising survey, including sunshine, internet, water, and refrigerators. Facebook also ranked above coffee, mobile phones, email, automobiles, and even light bulbs. Other web services like Twitter and Google also appeared further down the list.

    Of course, there were some other anomalies on the list as well, including season tickets to a football club beating out freezers, and painkillers topping both fresh fruits and vegetables. Still, Facebook's lofty position shows that while we begin to live more and more of our life online, trappings of modern life are either taken for granted, or simply not as important as they used to be. Check out the full list of results below.

    Sunshine
    Internet connection
    Clean drinking water
    Fridge
    Facebook
    NHS
    Cooker
    Email
    Flushing toilet
    Mobile phone / smartphone
    Tea and Coffee
    Washing machine
    Shower
    Central heating
    Painkillers
    Fresh vegetables
    Vacuum Cleaner
    Kettle
    Sofa
    Shoes
    Fresh fruit
    Google
    Car
    Hair straighteners
    Public transport
    Laptop
    Chocolate
    DVD Player
    Wristwatch
    Make-up
    Flat screen TV
    Wedding ring
    Tumble dryer
    Bottled water
    Ebay
    Bicycle
    Ipod
    Air conditioning
    Disposable nappies
    Light bulbs
    Spell-check
    Sat Nav
    Push-up bra
    Nintendo Wii
    iPad
    Gym Membership
    Season ticket to your football club
    Freezer
    Xbox
    Twitter
    (Source)

    This article originally appeared on Tecca

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    35 comments

    • sniper assassin  •  8 mths ago
      i cancelled my facebook, but other sites force you to link back to it in order to post an opinion... and facebook deactivation doesn't permanently delete your account for 14 days, so i've had to reactivate it to post on other blogs, then deactivate it again. i can live without facebook... there are other alternatives and i still have accounts with myspace, friendster, hi5, mylife, match, and others. too many to check, except when i'm really bored. i can't understand how people would rather give up a flushing toilet in lieu of facebook... where are they going to take a dump? behind a trash bin at 7-11? stupid people have their priorities all mixed up as usual.
    • O.S.  •  8 mths ago
      I am not at all surprised about this result especially coming from London. Why would anyone want to drive a car in the UK, where you have to pay astronomical congestion charge, hefty parking, endless tarffic jams, one of the most expensive gas prices in the Western world etc. And I am not all surprised that sunshine and internet connection are Nos 1 and 2 respectively. This is because we get less than 20 days of sunshine a year in the UK and our internet connection in some parts of Britain is at least 20 years behind the rest of the civilised world and even behind many of thye so-called third world countries. And what about the drinking water?. If you love your life, you must not drink straight from the tap in the UK. The EEC has been on our case since the mid 80's and we still have a lot of catching up to do. Thse are honest assessments but I expect a tirade of abuse for writing this. If you really want an objective assessment, Britain is the last place to make a point of reference as many things that other first countries of the world take for granted are luxuries for us here in the UK except football of course which has now become our main product.
    • PhxAries  •  8 mths ago
      remove FB from the list
    • Spot  •  8 mths ago
      The most important thing should be God. Visit Facebook: "Jesus Saves"
    • Vince  •  8 mths ago
      This is quite possibly the worst thing ever written. I challenge anyone to find something more ridiculous.
    • Me  •  8 mths ago
      Our world will end next year, December 21, 2012, when Facebook ceases to exist, and the cuckoos go crazy. The Mayans were SOOOOOOOO right.
    • Headbanger!  •  8 mths ago
      I can bet my entire salary for a year that this opinion would change if they lost their toilet and shower for a month...how pathetic is this survey and the answer given....
    • greenhornet  •  8 mths ago
      just drop fb and go to fuzzyorb
    • Ed Komandosky  •  8 mths ago
      Most of our lives today are really dependent on electric power. Try doing without for a few days like the folks in New York and/or New England. Facebook won't be so important in that "light."
    • Philly34  •  8 mths ago
      This just goes to show how moronic today's society is, and not just here in the U.S. since this study was done in Britain.
    • SeekingSanity  •  8 mths ago
      Typical #$%$ survey...no real meaning can be attached to this...just news show filler.
    • Autumn Leaves  •  8 mths ago
      Really?! What a waste of time. Who did you interview, the Justin Beiber fan club?
    • Doc  •  8 mths ago
      Yeah, Right; and if anyone actually believes that, I'd like to sell you the Brooklyn bridge.
    • Snarkbark  •  8 mths ago
      Tweet Tweet Tweet......there, I just said something profound.

      Social media is for bird brain adults and tween girls.
    • Doug  •  8 mths ago
      If Facebook is even on your list, you are an idiot!!!
    • False Flag  •  8 mths ago
      most of humanity isn't worth saving and should be killed off.
    • Noel  •  8 mths ago
      this is pathetic.
    • SteveM  •  8 mths ago
      Facebook is the devil.
    • Robert  •  8 mths ago
      Most important? Air, water, shelter, food. In that order. Lowest on my list is surveys like this.
      • Headbanger! 8 mths ago
        You left out booze and sex.
      • Dont hate appreciate 8 mths ago
        Id put food above shelter. Any place 60-80 degrees with some shade and you dont need shelter.
    • Grant  •  8 mths ago
      Too funny.

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