One-third of us would opt for Internet access over keeping a finger

By Krystle Vermes May 11, 2015

finger, hand — CreativeCommons

What would you do if you lost your connection to the Internet? Apparently, there are a lot of people who can’t fathom life being very enjoyable without it.

A survey conducted by Cable.co.uk has found that 29 percent of the survey respondents would rather lose a finger than a broadband connection to the Web. These results came from a pool of 2,500 people who appear to be very, very attached to the Internet. About 25 percent of respondents said they wouldn’t be able to make a choice between saving a finger and an Internet connection, according to BetaNews.com.

Could you imagine parting with a body part in exchange for a connection with the Web? What about merely surrendering some of life’s sinfully delicious indulgences?

In a similarly angled survey conducted by Hyperoptic, 45 percent of Brits said they would give up chocolate in exchange for maintaining an Internet connection for one week, while 24 percent would say no to alcohol in order to stay online. About 22 percent said they would ditch sex, according to Cable.co.uk.

It seems that the Internet has become an extremely important part of our lives, but not every part of the globe is sharing equally in this connectivity. For instance, only 19 percent of India’s population uses the Internet regularly at home, according to Internet Live Stats.

That being said, the number of Internet users around the world continues to trend upward with time. As of May 2015, there are more than 3 billion people who use the Internet globally. This accounts for about 40 percent of the planet’s population.

In February 2015, the Federal Communications Commission declared broadband Internet service a public utility, as reported by the New York Times. This declaration may pave the way for broadband to become mainstream across all of the U.S. Many of the country’s rural areas are still struggling to gain access to broadband Internet connections, although the expansion of service is proceeding.

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Krystle Vermes is a professional writer, blogger and podcaster with a background in both online and print journalism. Her…

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