zombies and whether it could be possible
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Define zombies.
In their earliest literary incarnation, zombies are actually metaphors for communists--a mass of people who has no individuality and thus are all equal, and consume other anyone in their path.
Then there are the more common game and movie zombies that are slow, stupid horde.
Or the modern angry crazy athletic zombie?
Personally, I think your average Joe salary man are pretty much zombies in traditional sense. Shaun of the Dead, anyone?
In their earliest literary incarnation, zombies are actually metaphors for communists--a mass of people who has no individuality and thus are all equal, and consume other anyone in their path.
Then there are the more common game and movie zombies that are slow, stupid horde.
Or the modern angry crazy athletic zombie?
Personally, I think your average Joe salary man are pretty much zombies in traditional sense. Shaun of the Dead, anyone?
Well a created zombie might actually create ITS own minions by... 'ooh I don't know, maybe biting someone'?Fragged_Templar said:
The salavi in the created zombie would have virus depending on the drugs and so, it is possible to pass on the virus by biting someone...
... I think anyway... Apologies if people can't understand this post, it's just that I'm in a library full of kids and they're making noises.... Annoying ones!!
Hello all, right just a few points,
Parasite; probably not, there would be no reason for a parasite to cause that to happen, and creatures of that complexity dont usually turn out to have hidden agendas beyond reproduction, certainly not one that ends with the destruction of their host or the whole species.
Infection; possible on a minor level;
1) again a bacteria is unlikely in much the same way as a parasite is to kill all of its incubation life forms.
2)Virus, ok now this is pretty simple viruses evolve in such a manner known as mutation to adapt to their surroundings and what is needed at the time (for those of you who are not familiar with evolution, and yet watch tv, heroes season 3 episode 13 explains it much the same, the people mutate to gain what they need at the time, although not quite the same it may explain it to some of you better than me going in to the finalities of cellular mitosis or even the method in which a virus infects and replicates using the infected cells themselves) in which case if the mutation was such that it warranted turning the host in to a killing mindless machine then it is possible but would likely only be to spread the virus and not some malevolent design, however would likely make the 28 days later style zombie, or rage or reaver or whatever you want to call them.
3) man made infection circa resident evil (virus or bacteria) again possible people do fucked up things or make mistakes, and there are always companies making and testing new things and chemicals, this could in theory make either type of zombie.
Curse; HAH i dont think i need to go in to this...
But all in all let me just point out what rabies does to a person in a bad case, loss of cognitive thought leading to delusion and heightened aggression, leading to violent attacks and in coherent uncontrollable people who foam at the mouth, so all in all mutated enhanced form of infection rabies maybe? thats where i would have thought it would come from.
And as for likely hood... people are screwed up if it doesnt happen by chance i'm sure there's some twisted asshole out there that wants to make it happen.. so i say plan, plan for your survival, arm yourself with the knowledge to combat an infection and above all else nothing survives (for long) without a head.
For the survival of humanity Rappletek /out.
Parasite; probably not, there would be no reason for a parasite to cause that to happen, and creatures of that complexity dont usually turn out to have hidden agendas beyond reproduction, certainly not one that ends with the destruction of their host or the whole species.
Infection; possible on a minor level;
1) again a bacteria is unlikely in much the same way as a parasite is to kill all of its incubation life forms.
2)Virus, ok now this is pretty simple viruses evolve in such a manner known as mutation to adapt to their surroundings and what is needed at the time (for those of you who are not familiar with evolution, and yet watch tv, heroes season 3 episode 13 explains it much the same, the people mutate to gain what they need at the time, although not quite the same it may explain it to some of you better than me going in to the finalities of cellular mitosis or even the method in which a virus infects and replicates using the infected cells themselves) in which case if the mutation was such that it warranted turning the host in to a killing mindless machine then it is possible but would likely only be to spread the virus and not some malevolent design, however would likely make the 28 days later style zombie, or rage or reaver or whatever you want to call them.
3) man made infection circa resident evil (virus or bacteria) again possible people do fucked up things or make mistakes, and there are always companies making and testing new things and chemicals, this could in theory make either type of zombie.
Curse; HAH i dont think i need to go in to this...
But all in all let me just point out what rabies does to a person in a bad case, loss of cognitive thought leading to delusion and heightened aggression, leading to violent attacks and in coherent uncontrollable people who foam at the mouth, so all in all mutated enhanced form of infection rabies maybe? thats where i would have thought it would come from.
And as for likely hood... people are screwed up if it doesnt happen by chance i'm sure there's some twisted asshole out there that wants to make it happen.. so i say plan, plan for your survival, arm yourself with the knowledge to combat an infection and above all else nothing survives (for long) without a head.
For the survival of humanity Rappletek /out.
I don't understand the fascination with zombies, they are the most ineffective apocalypse possible. A slow zombie can be easily killed by holding a knife at eye level so the zombie walks right into it; a fast zombie would just stab itself faster.
But what's that, swarms you say? You are clearly underestimating the effectiveness of a tank or even a row of soldiers with assault rifles against a horde of zombies running straight ahead.
There are two reasons why zombies kill people in movies, the first is incompetance in that the human corners themselves; the second is zombies acting intelligently, as in hiding behind doors without making a sound just waiting for humans to pass.
At any rate an airborne pandemic that outright kills people will be far more effective than if it decides to zombify people.
But what's that, swarms you say? You are clearly underestimating the effectiveness of a tank or even a row of soldiers with assault rifles against a horde of zombies running straight ahead.
There are two reasons why zombies kill people in movies, the first is incompetance in that the human corners themselves; the second is zombies acting intelligently, as in hiding behind doors without making a sound just waiting for humans to pass.
At any rate an airborne pandemic that outright kills people will be far more effective than if it decides to zombify people.
Well I read that cracked article, and I gotta say, while all those things look good on paper, they would never actually work. Lets go down the list and say why, shall we?
1: The parasite. This one COULD happen, but here's the thing with it; it wouldn't work. Why? Because there's no motivation and no real way to do host to host spreading. With the parasite mentioned in the article, toxoplasmosa gondii, the parasite needs to get from one organism to the other. However, there is nothing on earth that would/could eat a human that exist in the quantity required for this to work for this to work. Additionally, how would it spread from one person to the next? Even if this were to evolve into something that affects humans on a large scale, why don't the infected turn on eachother, and why would they ever form a horde with a common goal?
2: Chemical zombies. Despite the fact that this has kind of already happened, it's not a viable way to make a horde. There's no way to spread it or to control the existing zombies in any sort of useful way.
3: The rage virus. Ok, this one has the mindlessness and the spreadablilty down, but absolutely fails at the motive level. Why would any of the zombies go out and hunt the uninfected? There's just no reason to go out and find an clean person when your rage could easily be directed at the nearest zombie. so while this one could happen, there's nothing to keep the horde from ripping its self apart.
4: Stem cells! This one also fails because of motivation and spreadability. What makes the zombies attack the uninfected, and how does it spread? The answers are 'nothing' and 'it doesn't.'
5: Nanobots. The only one on the list that has motive, spreadability, and control covered. But this one fails because it would be easy to deal with, since you'd be dealing with tiny machines. Just a little bit of emp, and BOOM, problem solved. Also, where would the nanobots get the materials to make more of themselves? And if they were being controlled, it should be simple to destroy the control center and again, problem solved.
So there you have it. That is why none of that stuff would work for zomb-pocalypses. However, there is one way I could see a zomb-pocalypse working, and that is with
6: The Flood. No, not water, I'm talking halo. Those little parasite things that want to take over the galaxy. They have every aspect of the zomb-pocalypse down. They spread by infecting the living/reanimating the dead with their spores, which are made from gathering biomass. They are controlled by a single entity, so there's no reason for them to attack each other. And then they want to take over the galaxy, so there's the motive for trying to infect the uninfected. There's just one flaw; they don't really exist. But that is the way it would have to go down, or at least something like that.
So there you have it, why there will probably never be a zomb-pocalypse. Well, at least not in our lifetimes.
Concept, out
1: The parasite. This one COULD happen, but here's the thing with it; it wouldn't work. Why? Because there's no motivation and no real way to do host to host spreading. With the parasite mentioned in the article, toxoplasmosa gondii, the parasite needs to get from one organism to the other. However, there is nothing on earth that would/could eat a human that exist in the quantity required for this to work for this to work. Additionally, how would it spread from one person to the next? Even if this were to evolve into something that affects humans on a large scale, why don't the infected turn on eachother, and why would they ever form a horde with a common goal?
2: Chemical zombies. Despite the fact that this has kind of already happened, it's not a viable way to make a horde. There's no way to spread it or to control the existing zombies in any sort of useful way.
3: The rage virus. Ok, this one has the mindlessness and the spreadablilty down, but absolutely fails at the motive level. Why would any of the zombies go out and hunt the uninfected? There's just no reason to go out and find an clean person when your rage could easily be directed at the nearest zombie. so while this one could happen, there's nothing to keep the horde from ripping its self apart.
4: Stem cells! This one also fails because of motivation and spreadability. What makes the zombies attack the uninfected, and how does it spread? The answers are 'nothing' and 'it doesn't.'
5: Nanobots. The only one on the list that has motive, spreadability, and control covered. But this one fails because it would be easy to deal with, since you'd be dealing with tiny machines. Just a little bit of emp, and BOOM, problem solved. Also, where would the nanobots get the materials to make more of themselves? And if they were being controlled, it should be simple to destroy the control center and again, problem solved.
So there you have it. That is why none of that stuff would work for zomb-pocalypses. However, there is one way I could see a zomb-pocalypse working, and that is with
6: The Flood. No, not water, I'm talking halo. Those little parasite things that want to take over the galaxy. They have every aspect of the zomb-pocalypse down. They spread by infecting the living/reanimating the dead with their spores, which are made from gathering biomass. They are controlled by a single entity, so there's no reason for them to attack each other. And then they want to take over the galaxy, so there's the motive for trying to infect the uninfected. There's just one flaw; they don't really exist. But that is the way it would have to go down, or at least something like that.
So there you have it, why there will probably never be a zomb-pocalypse. Well, at least not in our lifetimes.
Concept, out
In real life we would generally do much better than the hapless people in zombie movies. Generally the zombies win their first few large advances because of people going "I'm shooting it in the torso and its not dying!". In real life we would go "oh, zombies. Shoot it in the head."
I told you before, I shall repeat. People were able to kill their friends in the past, they will be able to kill them in current day and they will be able to kill them in the future.rossatdi said:
Even if they won't shoot on first sight, they will open fire when one of their fellow-soldiers has been attacked and killed.
Tell me when in history trained western soldiers have opened fire on their friends and family? There were significant problems in the American Civil War because people didn't want to actually kill each other that much, and that was in full military garb with guns.WaffleGod said:
When at a military base sheltering a few hundred panicky civilians gets hit by a few infected it's very quickly going to be a case of not knowing who's a zombie, who's not a zombie and who's bitten.
Zombies don't attack in line formation, their uniform is ours, their camouflage our bodies. "Private are you hurt?" "No sir! It's just a stratch." Ten minutes later -> zombietown.
Plus the US military has about 1.4 million personnel. A relatively small number of that is actual infantry soldiers say 250,000 (which I suspect is an enormous over-estimate). There are about 300 million Americans. Those are not good odds.
this is getting ridiculous...rossatdi said:
If the military can't handle a few zombies, then what do we pay them for? Seriously... If you think the "biggest badass superpower" in the world can't even take down a couple of zombies without guns in a city, then you my friend are wrong. Even IF the infantry wouldtn't fire, there are always helicopters and jets (which basically don't even see the target, except on their screens as a "blimp").
I'm absolutely convinced that soldiers would fire in a zombie apocalypse event. If it's you or the empty body of your friend, I believe instinct will make the decision for you.
I don't know about the undead zombies, but I reckon 28 days later style would be possible, given the right drugs.
But I don't see why they would work together, the real zombie apocalypse would sort itself out because they should all attack each other if they are in such a blind rage.
But I don't see why they would work together, the real zombie apocalypse would sort itself out because they should all attack each other if they are in such a blind rage.
A few zombies isn't the problem. What starts off as a few unusual cases of homicide can explode in the course of a couple of hours to take out a state. Also you're labelling 'zombies' a bit to easily. They just look like people, especially at the start. I can guarantee you that average joe 6-pack in the national guard is not happy to let rip on dozens of civilians not doing anything.WaffleGod said:
So the situation would escalate. The governement would simply place the entire city under quarantaine. And then nuke it. Zombies will never ever succeed in bringing down the entire world.rossatdi said:A few zombies isn't the problem. What starts off as a few unusual cases of homicide can explode in the course of a couple of hours to take out a state. Also you're labelling 'zombies' a bit to easily. They just look like people, especially at the start. I can guarantee you that average joe 6-pack in the national guard is not happy to let rip on dozens of civilians not doing anything.WaffleGod said:
More nerd-ish?! Your on a game forum, everyone on here is as about as nerdy as they come without dressing up as wizards and shouting spells at people in the street.Frybird said: