Could a Zombie Apocalypse really happen? This week for class our assigned homework was to watch Zombie Apocalypse, a documentary by the Discover Channel. I must admit I haven’t watched a single episode of The Walking Dead and I don’t think I have even seen any of the Zombie movies so my knowledge of Zombies prior to this video was limited. Zombies to me were like witches, goblins and Frankenstein; ideas of fictional beings created by writers, and television and movie producers. However, I was shocked to see how many educated professionals were in this documentary discussing the possibility of a Zombie apocalypse. Hearing science-backed facts from educated professionals drew me to ask the question could this really happen? The way the scholars described the possibility of a zombie apocalypse is as a widespread virus, which has happened in the past, made it feel that much more likely. Other diseases have spread and infected a large number of a population like HIV, Ebola and Spanish Flu
Dr. Stephen Schlozman, Medical Doctor and Professor at Harvard also explained the possibility of the human brain becoming a Zombie brain very clearly and logically. He stated that Zombie brain would have very little activity in the frontal lobe, which makes decisions between good and evil. Additionally the cerebellum would not working right and that would be why they are only driven to get food and their movement is unbalanced and shaky.
However, for many people featured in the documentary, the zombie apocalypse is not just a theory. Individuals, like mother Patti Hefferman, live in fear and paranoia. They are prepared for a zombie attack and have even educated their children about how to kill a zombie. For them, it is no longer a theory, it an impending reality.
The reports of cannibal zombie like attacks have made many to believe the Zombie Apocalypse has begun. Zombie theories claim that in the beginning there would be a few isolated incidences. However, these same incidences have been discovered to be individuals under the influence of bath salts. I also became slightly skeptical when Dr. Daniel Drezner, Professor of Political Science at Tufts University, stated "only by destroying the brain does a zombie cease to exist”. If the likelihood of Zombies was being analyzed objectively and based on facts, it seemed unlikely that a virus infected individual could posses some kind of superhuman characteristics where they could only be killed by the brain. It seemed to me that facts were being used to back the theories of science fiction.
Yet this did make me ask the question, were these individuals affected by something more? Were these individuals aware of Zombie ideologies from watching shows like the Walking Dead and had become possessed to act this way based mental illness or mental instability that lead them to believe that they were in fact a Zombie. Fan culture can be consuming for individuals. During the craze of Stephanie Myers Twilight, Vampires became highly popular and sexualized beings, and girls would create bite marks on themselves, and others would even wear read contacts and powder their faces so as to look like vampires. In some cases individuals actually have tried to drink their partners blood. It begs me to ask the question how much can fan culture affect our perceived reality. It will be interesting to see what the discussion in class generates from the topic of Zombies.
Dr. Stephen Schlozman, Medical Doctor and Professor at Harvard also explained the possibility of the human brain becoming a Zombie brain very clearly and logically. He stated that Zombie brain would have very little activity in the frontal lobe, which makes decisions between good and evil. Additionally the cerebellum would not working right and that would be why they are only driven to get food and their movement is unbalanced and shaky.
However, for many people featured in the documentary, the zombie apocalypse is not just a theory. Individuals, like mother Patti Hefferman, live in fear and paranoia. They are prepared for a zombie attack and have even educated their children about how to kill a zombie. For them, it is no longer a theory, it an impending reality.
The reports of cannibal zombie like attacks have made many to believe the Zombie Apocalypse has begun. Zombie theories claim that in the beginning there would be a few isolated incidences. However, these same incidences have been discovered to be individuals under the influence of bath salts. I also became slightly skeptical when Dr. Daniel Drezner, Professor of Political Science at Tufts University, stated "only by destroying the brain does a zombie cease to exist”. If the likelihood of Zombies was being analyzed objectively and based on facts, it seemed unlikely that a virus infected individual could posses some kind of superhuman characteristics where they could only be killed by the brain. It seemed to me that facts were being used to back the theories of science fiction.
Yet this did make me ask the question, were these individuals affected by something more? Were these individuals aware of Zombie ideologies from watching shows like the Walking Dead and had become possessed to act this way based mental illness or mental instability that lead them to believe that they were in fact a Zombie. Fan culture can be consuming for individuals. During the craze of Stephanie Myers Twilight, Vampires became highly popular and sexualized beings, and girls would create bite marks on themselves, and others would even wear read contacts and powder their faces so as to look like vampires. In some cases individuals actually have tried to drink their partners blood. It begs me to ask the question how much can fan culture affect our perceived reality. It will be interesting to see what the discussion in class generates from the topic of Zombies.