Sharks are terrifying. Muscular, lethal, killing machines – these villains of the deep are so widely feared by us land wimps that we’ve packed cinemas full with petrified punters watching "Jaws" destroy communities and tear limbs from young swimmers. But "dangerous" as they may be, it is the selfie – scourge of modern life – that has taken more lives in 2015, directly or otherwise.

According to Pedestrian, there have been 10 confirmed cases of selfie deaths (there will likely have been more), compared with just 8 at the hands (fins) of sharks. It’s confirmed – we are the narcissistic masters of our own downfall. Sharks may have powerful jaws and sharp teeth, but selfie deaths are often no less grisly, given our proclivity for posing in dangerous situations.

Earlier this month a 19-year old from Houston died posing for a selfie with a gun and the same thing happened to a woman in Moscow. The Russian government became so concerned about people killing themselves in self-inflicted iPhone incidents that it released a "safe selfie" guide. We even released our own "how not to die taking a selfie" guide that appears to be have been wilfully ignored by a like-hungry public.

Mainstream media may spend a lot of energy reminding our generation to be terrified of absolutely anything and everything, but the problem may be a lot simpler and closer to home – we’ll literally die if we continue to define our success through our smartphones and the validation of other people holding smartphones who also want your validation. It’s a dull sounding feedback loop that’s proving more dangerous to our continued existence than sharks.