There's a xkcd comic that shows a person resisting going to bed because "someone is wrong on the Internet," which has become an Internet meme because it strikes a chord with so many of us. Admit it: we've all done it before, probably multiple times. But when we think of the type of person who does this, most of us think of men. That stereotype, it turns out, is not quite as true as we think. According to new survey results from Intel, women are more likely than men to willingly sacrifice sex for two weeks than risk losing Internet access for that long. And you thought headaches were a problem.

According to the survey of 2,119 adult Internet users, commissioned for Intel by Harris Interactive (full results will be published next week), 95 percent of all respondents said it was at least "somewhat" important to have devices that allow them to get online. 65 percent said that they simply could not live without Internet access, period. Clearly, this is a crowd that loves their Internet. But it wouldn't take much for this luxury-turned-utility to interrupt people's lives in the bedroom, it seems, and in trends that seem to be moving in opposite directions.

Almost half (46 percent) of all women said that they would choose the Internet over sex for two weeks. Broken down, the numbers are even more scary for the male side of the population: 49 percent of women between the ages of 18 and 34 would rather have the Internet than some tender lovin', and 52 percent between age 35 and 44 felt the same way. It looks like the numbers only go down in the upper age groups, who don't tend to spend as much time on the Internet in the first place.



Truer than we'd like to admit Truer than we'd like to admit

Men have trouble resisting the succubus that is the online world either, but in lower numbers (30 percent overall). 39 percent of men between the ages of 18 and 34 said they would sacrifice sex for the Internet for two weeks, while a mere 23 percent of those between 35 and 44 said so.

Sex wasn't the only thing people ranked below Internet access in Intel's survey, though. Cable TV subscriptions, dining out, shopping for clothes, and gym memberships all lose out to the Internet when push comes to shove. In fact, TV seemed to be one of the most expendable of the non-people-related options, with 58 percent of all adults (male and female) saying they would rather give up TV for two weeks than live without Internet for even a single week.

In the spirit of things we would rather give up in order to stay online for two weeks, the Ars staff has come up with a list of things that we would sacrifice to keep our Internet on

Phone service

Shaving

Bathing (Nate only)

Air conditioning (in the summer, that is)

TV (broadcast, cable, or even online)

Caffeine

What are some of yours?

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