Can Zombies exist or not?

[2fish]

Zombies did (and still can?) exist. It's not as the media potrays it though, it is just a period of false death wherebye the person is 'revived' but braindead, with only their basic moter skills remaining, allowing them to do tasks such as farm etc. Not quite as cool or scary as the movies but still very real.

well ut thinking of the zombie in the literal sense, what about 28 days later where a disease changes people into a angry zombies biters

Not to get into an argument but wouldn't they be infected?

I for one would not have time to ask the angry horde, ?Are you zombies or just infected humans?? "Don't eat me, Don't eat me, AHHHHHHHH!

It is plausible not probable that zombies could happen. If the person was brain dead yet a few basic functions remained or if chemistry in the brain was off we could see a major change in a person, Reavers! They would be called zombies until we won and had time to dissect them and explain them to the survivors. If humans die out they would be known as zombies as we probably wouldn?t have had the time to think about it.

 

[FairlyFrightenedFeline]

Hey,

In social studies we have to do a dialectical essay on a topic with opposing sides. Naturally, I chose to write about 'Zombies: Is it possible for them to exist, or not?'.

Actually, my friend told me there was a parasite that attaches itself to the brain of a small animal, and then causes that animal to attack another animal (but not kill it), and then move to that animal when its weak, but it can't go to humans or large animals because the brain is too advanced or big.

 

[Your once and future Fanboy]

Zombies can not exist.
Once you die your brain stops working, therefore, there is nothing to stimulate your muscles to move.

Being a zombie doesn't necessarily imply that you are brain dead. In some movies the zombies are just brain damaged to the point of where only the basic, human drives control them.
The real question is why we never seen a zombie try to rape someone?!

 

[swolf]

Of course they can! Haven't you ever heard of The Zombie Survival Handbook or World War Z by Max Brooks. Both are interesting documents with detailed first hand accounts of people who survived actual encounters with the undead. (Yeah, I realize it's a humor book but it's funnier to refer to it as real).

 

[JStheguy]

Even if zombies could exist,As long as it dosent begin in a area populated by only the blind,retared, or next to no peopele,The zombies will be dead before you can say"I hate halo 3"

 

[AdamRBi]

My opinion? The more "dead" a Zombie is, the less likely it is to exist.
Parasite and/or Virus that infects living being turning them in to Zombies? Very Possible.
The recently dead returning to life? Possible, but unlikely to sustain mobility. You could shock the corpse to cause muscle spasms, but that's about as close to bringing them to life as you can make it.
The previously dead returning to life? Impossible without playing the 'magic' card. Too many vitals missing. Muscle and Brain decay being the most important.
Skeleton Zombies? It's a Puppet.
Ghost? It's an alien.

 

[JokerCrowe]

First I think you need to define a "zombie".

Spoiler: Loooong explanation

In Voodoo a "zombie" is a person in a trance like state that can be manipulated to someone elses will. This is completely possible. In movies/games a "zombie" is a dead body that's come to life. This can be for several reasons.
1. because of magic: Some movies have someone read a text from a book and accidentally awaken the dead. This, of course, can not happen as magic isn't real.

2. Because of a parasite of some sort. Now there are parasites in the real world that can control a host body. This is common in the insect world. So that is entirely possible. (if the body is alive)

3. Because of a virus that mutates. This has been used in Left 4 Dead and Resident Evil and 28 days later. In l4D and 28 days however, the person infected isn't dead, just insane. So does that count? If it does, it's completely possible.

So, if we look at the Voodoo definition Zombies are possible.
If we look at the definition that the body is dead, it isn't really possible. There is an exeption however, if you make a "headcrab" that takes control of the nervous system and kills the host simultaniously, it is possible.
If you take the parasite/virus route of "the person ins't really dead, but will die when the pathogen exits the body" it is also very possible to make "zombies".

tl;dr?
It all depends on the definition. Personally I think that the "Zombies" in L4D and 28 days later are possible. But not the Evil Dead ones.
EDIT:
Basically what everyone else has already said.

 

[Mechsoap]

its like rabias like dogs can have, for humans it shuts down feelings and memory while holding up the nerve system makeing it possible to walk and to breath, in theory its extreme easy to make zombies, it just takes the right idea

 

[Mechsoap]

or it can be a airborn disease, or with blood into blood or like bite to bite since it sends bakteries into a other sapient being

 

[Rachel317]

Hmm...interesting. To be honest, I've always been much more interested in the "they can exist" arguments =D

It's like trying to prove or disprove God...no one will have any evidence either way until something DOES happen...and even if it doesn't happen, we still won't know because we haven't not seen not nothing happening...hehe.

Good luck! I hope you can disprove zombies...but I'd be much more excited if you could ;D Hehe

 

[Therumancer]

I personally do not think "zombies" as in animated corpses can exist scientifically. Mystically they could exist of course, but such things are not existed.

Despite how Hollywood terms them, I do not consider living, but fairly brain dead and hyper aggressive plague victims to be true zombies. While I suppose that is possible, I do not believe such creatures would last long enough to represent that kind of threat because I see no viable reason why they wouldn't die from exposure, lack of food, dehydration, etc...

For example in 28 Days Later when the psycho-military guys chained up the plague victim to see how long it would take for him to die, I had trouble suspending disbelief on the victim's continued long term survival since he was alive and not "undead".

Such are my thoughts. Barring the revelation of magic, or a really dark miracle, I don't see it happening. I think out of control bioweapons are far more likely to just kill people than create a "zombie/maniac infestation"

 

[Stabby Joe]

There have been real life zombies in the past but not zombies will all know and love. They usually involve; functioning body yet dead brain, temporary reanimation in limbs and the ability of certain animals to die only to come back to cheat an attack.

 

[AWAR]

There's a documentary about Zombies in Haiti which is really interesting. It's not the usual super-natural pseudo-science thingie mind you.

 

[WakeTheDead1]

When a body dies muscles still contract for a short while, including stomach muscles which can make a corpse appear to sit upright which causes gas to be forced out the mouth making a zombie-like moaning, so this is where the idea for zombies first came from when seeing dead bodies sit up and moan,

whether they could exist in the flesh eating variety i highly doubt it, but i still have a zombie survival kit under the bed just in case, i cant deny if it really happened, a lot of us would be excited to test out our skills learned from video-games on some real life zombies

 

[Sejvos]

I think some types of zomdie exist.

 

[coldshadow]

the common zombie that we think of cannot exist but a parasite type zombie could.

 

[BlindMessiah94]

I hope zombies can exist.
I hope that there is a zombie apocalypse.
I hope that every zombie fanboy out there that has ever spouted crap saying that "A Zombie Apocalypse would be so awsome!!!!1!!!ZOMGLOLZ!!1!" realizes how stupid they were for saying it, gets devoured by a zombie, and realizes the error of their ways.

How would a zombie apocalypse be anything other than completely terrible and horrifying?
Everyone you ever knew or loved now becoming a mindless enemy with no hope of a cure? The entire world and society crumbling? You spending the rest of your days simply struggling to survive, to find water, electricity, shelter, safety?

/endsrant

I don't think the survival sounds fun, but I would enjoy the world without so many people. I think it would be a therapeuthic experience, actually getting to fight all the idiots of the world, instead of being told to try to communicate with them. It may not be so fun at a long term though.

I don't think it would be fun short term either.

Killing another human being, even if they are all mutated like a zombie, would hardly be a cathartic experience. After all, you would still feel like you were killing a human. What happens when you have to kill someone you knew?

Trust me, I can't stand most humans, and most people are idiots. But I'd be hard pressed to believe that I would be happy seeing the entire world engulfed by a plague and everyone I ever knew or loved transformed into a monstrosity.

As for enjoying the world without so many people, I think as soon as you realized you were one of the last people left on earth, you would miss people.

 

[GrinningManiac]

Zombies did (and still can?) exist. It's not as the media potrays it though, it is just a period of false death wherebye the person is 'revived' but braindead, with only their basic moter skills remaining, allowing them to do tasks such as farm etc. Not quite as cool or scary as the movies but still very real.

well ut thinking of the zombie in the literal sense, what about 28 days later where a disease changes people into a angry zombies biters

Not to get into an argument but wouldn't they be infected?

Zombies can not exist.
Once you die your brain stops working, therefore, there is nothing to stimulate your muscles to move.

well ut thinking of the zombie in the literal sense, what about 28 days later where a disease changes people into a angry zombies biters

]

This is called Rabies.

Anyhoo, I believe that certain substances (and, indeed, intense and immoral psycho-medical practices) can render a human mindless and obidient, much like a zombie-slave/flying monkey/large dog

 

[OneKlicKill]

I would Consider it impossible if your calling it a zombie because the body must be dead then brought back as a zombie. Which could not be possible if the cells in the body are dead.

Infected on the other hand sounds plausable.

 

[mad825]

grrr, this subject brings the stupidity out of everyone.

first of all I will make one thing clear:
THE CREATURES IN 28DAYS LATER ARE NOT ZOMBIES THEY ARE LIVING PEOPLE INFECTED WITH "RAGE"
The term "zombie" in 28 days later can only be used for expression purposes or metaphysical references

Any zombie that runs is completely preposterous,it only exists purely for the entertainment factor, all realism is thrown out the window as I would assume most would agree on that their ankles would snap into smithereens if decaying bone could support a running man.

the main problems on a zombification being cause by a virus is that they are typically parasites and rely on living cells to survive as well reproduce in long periods of time although it does explain it's capabilities on the brain (rabies for example) and they have no conscious reasoning to survive.