Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Kagus]

Honestly, you take me entirely too seriously.

Parasites are just as likely as any other method of zombie infection.  In essence, zilch.


However, blending realism and fantasy together allows for fun and creative ideas, as believability lends itself quite nicely to immersion.  You don't actually have to believe that any of it is true, your humanly irrational side will take care of that for you.

This is why we can watch a scary movie, even an absurd or fantastical one, and get the heebie-jeebies.  Even if the killer/monster dies (without any room for sequels), we're still put on edge.  This is why most people watch scary movies in the first place, to get a nice spooking.

For instance, parasites.  Certain parasites, that have been engineered by evolution to be able to do it, are capable of taking over a slug's brain and causing it to lay about on a leaf with its parasite-swollen eyestalks waving around like beacons.  A bird comes by, eats the eyestalks, and gets the parasites into its system.

The bird takes a parasite-filled dump, a slug crawls over the splatter, and the cycle continues.

Would a parasite be able to take over the absurdly complex human mind?  I seriously doubt it.  It would have to be some genetically engineered super worm that shoots flames from its eyes.  but you don't have to know that, all you have to know is that there are naturally occurring parasites in the wild that are capable of taking over the nervous systems of minor animals.


Point is, zombies ain't happening.  That doesn't mean we can't have fun speculating about interesting ways of creating background for a theoretical zombie-infested world where we can fulfill our lifelong dreams of smacking someone with a frying pan without it being illegal.

[Cthulhu]

I think it's possible, but I agree that it probably wouldn't be a very efficient way of propagating itself, unless it were in a third world country, in which case it would probably be devastating.

[Qmarx]

Would a parasite be able to take over the absurdly complex human mind?  I seriously doubt it.  It would have to be some genetically engineered super worm that shoots flames from its eyes.  but you don't have to know that, all you have to know is that there are naturally occurring parasites in the wild that are capable of taking over the nervous systems of minor animals.

Be afraid.

Be very afraid.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/DyeHard/story?id=2288095

Other studies suggest that the parasite may influence personality. There are claims of toxoplasma causing antisocial attitudes in men and promiscuity[22] (or even "signs of higher intelligence"[23] ) in women, and greater susceptibility to schizophrenia and manic depression in all infected persons.[22] A 2004 study found that toxoplasma "probably induces a decrease of novelty seeking." [24]

According to Sydney University of Technology infectious disease researcher Nicky Boulter in an article that appeared in the January/February 2007 edition of Australasian Science magazine, Toxoplasma infections lead to changes depending on the sex of the infected person. [25]

The study suggests that male carriers have lower IQs, a tendency to achieve a lower level of education and have shorter attention spans, a greater likelihood of breaking rules and taking risks, and are more independent, anti-social, suspicious, jealous and morose. It also suggests that these men are deemed less attractive to women. Women carriers are suggested to be more outgoing, friendly, more promiscuous, and are considered more attractive to men compared with non-infected controls. The results are shown to be true when tested on mice, though it is still inconclusive. A few scientists have suggested that, if these effects are genuine, prevalence of toxoplasmosis could be a major determinant of cultural differences

[Cthulhu]

Taking over the mind?  Maybe not.  Damaging the brain until the person becomes violent and dangerous?  It could totally happen.

[Kagus]

That will lead to worldwide moronic sex-related cat worship before zombies enter the mix. 


...


Oh SH*!

[Cthulhu]

Then it becomes clear.

The infection will begin in Japan.

[Qmarx]

Why do you think the ancient Egyptians made the pyramids?

They weren't built to keep people out.

[umiman]

Feel free to dismiss this entire thing if you're just talking for the sake of fun. I'm just bored and feel like whacking people who, while I doubt it, actually think zombie outbreaks are possible.

Since you unfairly switched sides, I'll take your old viewpoint then.

Of course, you assume that the human mind is actually difficult to take control of. Even today, we have many many parasites, bacteria, and other infections that very easily control human perception, movement, and thought. For example, syphilis is known to alter human mind states with extreme ease by destroying certain parts of the brain. All it takes is a mutated strain of it and poof, inexplicably violent zombies.

Then there's hormones which determine everything a human does. All it takes is an increased level of testosterone in a person to turn Joe Happy into murderous psycho killer. That's close enough to zombie to me and there are a multitude of infections which can cause hormonal imbalances through infection of the pituitary gland in addition to regular hormonal additives such as say... giving herbal sexual stimulants to children. There's a reason why the insane plea works in court. All someone has to do is mass-produce the cause.

If we define zombie as an unthinking slave to someone else's will, then it's even easier as it exists even today. Think suicidal zealots and the Cambodian military, so willing to fight for something they barely understand because of complete and total indoctrination. They're plenty zombie already, just lacking the dead and "braaains" part.

It is ridiculously easy to start a zombie outbreak, but not through atypical means and not through generally accepted, Hollywood definition.

[Cthulhu]

There's also the thing going on in Haiti.  Shady people use drugs to put a person into a coma, then after their family buries them, thinking they're dead, they're dug up and brought out of the coma.  Dissociative drugs are then used to bring them into a trance-like state, exacerbated by their belief system, where stories like this are accepted as fact.  They can then be used as free labor.

Totally true, I remember seeing case studies on zombies who have been found.

On a related note, who's going to get Left 4 Dead when it comes out?

[Reasonableman]

I might buy it, I'd have to see some reviews first. Still, I really wish they'd make some kind of zombie sim that was more like DWAAARF FORTRESS, with a huge variety of things you could do, and an RPG type skill system, and all sorts of different ways you could construct, collect, and fabricate defenses or weapons.

[Cthulhu]

There's a game called Dead Island in development where you can use anything(And I mean anything, not Dead Rising anything) as a weapon, with realistic physical damage to enemies, and an open-ended world.

[Kagus]

Damn, that would be great...  And as for L4D, as hyped as I am about it, I'm going to wait around for a demo.  Either that, or some very convincing reviews.

[Cthulhu]

Yeah, but the promises are starting to remind me of STALKER.  I doubt I'll get Dead Island.

[Nilocy]

All though theres no real definition of what a fantasy zombie really is. I like to look at the book World War Z, guess what the Zs for, as it is quite handy in that it explains some of the nuances of the zombie mythos. Such as why they act as they do. The virus itself is usually the classic tale of a virus gone a wall in some government lab thats using it as a biological weapon.  I very much like the idea that zombies are just walking corpses that cannot be explained. It leaves a lot of mystery around them and makes them even more menacing, and in the words of GI Joe, Knowing is Half the battle. So not knowing makes them even scarier.

[Aqizzar]

I've never been able to understand the idea of transmission via biting.  Basically for it to spread, you have to be bitten bad enough to be infected, but still be able to escape without being eaten (note the gigantic flaw that a zombie's method of transmission and food source are the same thing).

In any zombie movie, you see huge hoards of Zs running around willy nilly, and hardly any corpses.  How likely is it that that many people are going to be bitten, but survive long enough to change?  Seems to me like a zombie thing would burn itself out very quickly.

When me and my friends were sitting around trying to think up the mechanics for a zombie videogame, we eventually decided that the whole bite-transmission thing was too limiting.  A more thematically workable system was that it was air- or water- borne, and that some slice of the population, like with any disease, was lucky enough to be naturally resistant.


Also-

...bicycle bicycle bicycle... bicycle... bicycle-bicycle... bicycle bicycle... bicycle... bicycle... bicycle bicycle.

What did I just tell you people?  Open Vehicle = Suicide.  What are you gonna do the first time you have to get through a crowd?  Ring your little bell at them and hope they move?

Damn hippie Europeans.  Get a car!