Zombies

[LongArmProd]

We here at the NTZU (North Texas Z Uint) would like to know if the public believes the the undead are real or not. We would also like to know why you do or don't. I you do not we suggest picking up a copy of Max Brooks "Zombvie Survival Guide" or listining to the audio book at - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKCi9D88 ... er&list=UL

Mod Edit: Facebook URL deleted, since it breaks our rules on advertising.

 

[Sir Red]

The very fundamental basis of your question is flawed. If you are asking if there is such a thing as zombies currently existing in our world, then no. There is no such thing as zombies, let us not be stupid. Now if you are asking us if it is possible for there to some day be zombies, then I would be more inclined to vote yes. Or at the very least give the discussion some thought (I happen to remember a log of Stel explaining, through science, about how a zombie apocalypse could happen).

But yeah, I'm really wondering if you are not the single most dedicated spam bot...sentient even...>>;;

 

[baratron]

We here at the NTZU (North Texas Z Uint) would like to know if the public believes the the undead are real or not.

What is a "Uint", anyway?

Zombies based on humans are totally fake, but non-human zombies exist. For example, look at the real-life creature that Parasect is based on.

 

[Rex]

The Zombie Survival Guide was published in 2003. This sort of advertisement for it was outdated not even a month after the book hit the shelves.

Furthermore, a zombie apocalypse is impossible unless under very precise specifications. Certainly, the sort of apocalypse that the movies love is impossible. For starters, a zombie will rot, as it's made of dead flesh. A zombie cannot repair itself when it is damaged. Even if it survives multiple encounters with the living, it will eventually become so damaged it is no longer a threat. Winter would destroy a zombie, as the freezing temperatures would kill what little is keeping it from being a corpse. Even if a virus is airborne and transforms anyone within moments of death, said corpses would promptly be burned as soon as human survivors realized this. This isn't even getting into the wildlife that would pick apart zombies.

In short. Zombies suck in the real world.

 

[LongArmProd]

The avrage decay rate of a ghoul is about 3-5 years and winter would not distroy a zombie but mearly make it more frail and I would just as dangerous the day it thawed as it was the day it froze. And even in a small outbreak humans will resort to conventional forms of combat against a zombie not realizing the threat as what it is (torso shots etc.) then our greatest weakness to the undead will come out Fear and Stupidity The Rambos will go in guns blazing with automatic weapons trying to be heros but only endng up as zombies themselves some people bitten and affraid will flee the area taking the infection with them. some will even set fire to the shambling corpses only causing the burning of homes. This is almost never the case but has happened over the the course of time. Zombies suck in real life but humans suck in a zombie attack :/

 

[Rex]

3-5 years? Um... Basic decomposition says no. Maybe if it was buried, but above ground? With things picking at it and bacteria growing? Sorry, but that doesn't work. Also, freezing/thawing flesh doesn't work like that. When water freezes, it widens cracks, forcing things apart. When it thaws, these gaps are made apparent. This is one of the major flaws of concrete. Also, ice likes cutting into flesh and the like, it's also a flaw of cryogenics.

With mass media what it is, I'm pretty sure everyone knows what to do when a zombie attacks. Also, torso shots are just as effective in neutralizing a zombie as a headshot is at killing it. See my previous point about zombies and their inability to repair themselves. You also seem to forget what happens when you set fire to a zombie as well. They will die, if not at first then eventually. I'd give a burning zombie 10 minutes before the flames kill it.

Also, you forget human ingenuity. We are the dominant species of this planet simply because of our ability to adapt and conform to the situations that are presented to us. There are seven billion of us, with no way zombies could kill us all. Also, no, drop the narrative aspect, please. This is not the book, you are not a survivor, and Zombies do not exist outside of the parasitic organisms Bara shared with us all.

Finally, from a fellow member, your grammar and spelling need a lot of work. Try to cut up your sentences a little more? Let me see if I can do something with that post, as an example.

The average decay rate of a ghoul is about 3-5 years, and winter would not destroy a zombie, just make it more frail. It would just as dangerous the day it thawed as it was the day it froze. Even in a small outbreak humans will resort to conventional forms of combat against a zombie, not realizing the threat as what it is. Then our greatest weakness to the undead will come out, our fear and stupidity. The Rambos will go in, guns blazing with automatic fire, trying to be heroes, but only ending up as zombies themselves. Some people, bitten and afraid, will flee the area, taking the infection with them. Some will even set fire to the shambling corpses, only causing the burning of homes. This is almost never the case, but it has happened over the the course of time. Zombies may suck in real life, but humans suck in a zombie attack. :/

Remember, spell check is your friend! Well, sometimes at least.

 

[Sir Red]

The avrage decay rate of a ghoul is about 3-5 years and winter would not distroy a zombie but mearly make it more frail and I would just as dangerous the day it thawed as it was the day it froze. And even in a small outbreak humans will resort to conventional forms of combat against a zombie not realizing the threat as what it is (torso shots etc.) then our greatest weakness to the undead will come out Fear and Stupidity The Rambos will go in guns blazing with automatic weapons trying to be heros but only endng up as zombies themselves some people bitten and affraid will flee the area taking the infection with them. some will even set fire to the shambling corpses only causing the burning of homes. This is almost never the case but has happened over the the course of time. Zombies suck in real life but humans suck in a zombie attack :/

I love how you talk about this like Zombies actually exist/existed. XD It's adorable, like Santy Clause or something. :3

But yes, on with the dissection of your post~ Your "facts", are they from The Zombie Survival Guide? If so, just a heads up here, but they're fictional. ;D Which, in case anybody was wondering, means not real. Rex already touched upon many of the things I wanted to talk about, so I won't reiterate too much.

Also, I love how you try to paint the stereotypical portrayal of humans (particularly Americans, as we get the most shit for being like this) in that they would run in head-long and be nothing more than zombie fodder. First off, if zombies were real we don't know how they would function, what they would need to function and so on. Like if they need the host to actually still be alive or not (again assuming that they are some form of parasitic life, which would be the most plausible reason behind them existing at all), because if they do then simply unloading into a crowd of them would do the job.

Plus, if there was a zombie outbreak the government would be all over that shit so fast you wouldn't know that happened. The only reason that in all zombie works there is a small group of people with no real help is because that makes things more interesting. The genre is called "survival" for a reason. Plus, when you see the main heroes mass murdering people you can say to yourselves "there not real peoples, just zombays~ :'D". Plus they can have an "infinite" supply of them and the fear of one bite adds suspense.

So in conclusion, zombies = not real. For things like this you need to look at it objectively. You can't be like, "but in this movie/book/game zombies do this!". Those are made for entertainment purposes, as I've already discussed, the real world does not behave like that. And as Rex said, we are the dominant species for a reason. I'm about as cynical of society as one can get, but even I don't think the world governments could screw up a zombie outbreak as you seem to think. It would all be snuffed out really rather quickly. The End. :3

 

[The iFlare]

I think about it like this... A zombie outbreak via some unknown virus is possible... But for it to be an apocalypse, they'd have to be alive... There are certain sci-fi stories, such as I am Legend, in which the sufferer of the Zombie virus is still alive, can spread the disease, and still be cured. A zombie apocalypse could be possible if multiple infected individuals were kept at a research facility to find a cure, and at least one escaped into a populated area and began infecting others. Then you'd have a population of infected individuals... But as Rex and Sir Red were explaining, humans are smart, we'd quickly realize what's ensuing, and promptly find a way to stop it, whether it's taking out the infected population, or curing them... They'd have to be living so that they would be able to repair themselves and be less vulnerable to the elements, and even then, that might not be the case depending on what other effects the virus has besides neural shutdown and cannibal cravings. In short, Zombies are a possibility, but, they really pose no threat to humanity as a whole. Of course, I'm speaking scientifically... Religiously speaking, if we begin talking about many religious beliefs that believe part of the apocalypse will be the mass rising of the dead, then we may or may not be screwed... But we're not just talking Zombies there, we're talking complete biblical mayhem, Zombies, Natural disasters, and paranormal catastrophe... But that all depends on what you believe in.

 

[_Erebus_]

As stated before, a parasitic organism or virus could be the cause. Or even something like a prion (the things that cause Mad Cow Disease and possibly cause Alzheimer's) could be able to do such a thing, but with that not having been discovered yet, it's unlikely that's the case.

Extraterrestrial civilizations / intelligent life have definitely existed elsewhere in the universe. Look at the timescales in which our civilizations have lasted..not so long. So finding one would be like finding a spider in an auditorium with the lights off. So, this creature would probably need a way to infect their host that's plausible..

I like Valve's take on it in the Half-Life series. A creature called the Headcrab latches onto the victims skull and secretes toxins or something (it's really not clear) into the host's nervous system.
Headcrab:

Upon infecting the nervous system, it takes control. It doesn't exactly lust for brains. Several physical reactions take place, as evidenced here:

Not an -official- image, actually from a mod. Notice the discoloration of the arms and the mouth on its chest.

*shrug*

It's an interesting take on the zombie concept.
On the original Half-Life 1 model, you could see a vague outline of the person's skull. Kinda eerie :s

But I digress.