there's a certain kind of person who is so hooked on attention and external signals they're almost zombie like.

The exact same reaction I suspect you had to this I had at the Holocaust memorial in Berlin, the big concrete block one that is really jarring in person, yet you have people running around spilling their drinks over it while they take selfies. People who are legit dead behind the eyes, they can't take in where they are any more. Realizing that scared the crap out of me