Intro to Zombie Studies

Cloud • Oct 18, 2009 11:30 am

Zombies are the new vampires. :reaper:

Just noticed that the University of Alabama has this itunes U podcast course. "why the familiarity of zombies makes them scarier and more fun to study" including: "She's Not Your Mother Anymore" and "The Living as Minority."

All free, of course. I love da internet! and my ipods!

also, a quick Google of "zombies" throws up some pretty interesting stuff. If you're into that.

Cloud • Oct 18, 2009 1:34 pm

just think it's cool, that's all.

Scriveyn • Oct 18, 2009 2:20 pm

Academic studies seem to like the subject. Here's one from Canada that I remember from the BBC news.

If zombies actually existed, an attack by them would lead to the collapse of civilisation unless dealt with quickly and aggressively.

That is the conclusion of a mathematical exercise carried out by researchers in Canada.

...

But there is a serious side to the work.

...

In some respects, a zombie "plague" resembles a lethal, rapidly spreading infection.

...

Even so, their analysis revealed that a strategy of capturing or curing the zombies would only put off the inevitable.

In their scientific paper, the authors conclude that humanity's only hope is to "hit them [the undead] hard and hit them often".

...

xoxoxoBruce • Oct 18, 2009 2:53 pm

Go for the head.

SamIam • Oct 18, 2009 3:17 pm

What about a zombie vaccine? Sort of the opposite of the vampire effect. You take a bit of the Zombie's blood and make a vaccine out of it. Or do zombies have blood?

xoxoxoBruce • Oct 18, 2009 3:19 pm

Oh great, autistic zombies. :yelsick:

Clodfobble • Oct 18, 2009 3:54 pm

:lol:

Pie • Oct 18, 2009 4:20 pm

xoxoxoBruce;601799 wrote:
Oh great, autistic zombies. :yelsick:

I saw a guy with a button that said 'Save yourself from H1N1, lick an autistic kid'.

[COLOR=LemonChiffon]I lol'd. Aisle seat, please.[/COLOR]

Cloud • Oct 18, 2009 4:27 pm

want college credit for studying zombies!

capnhowdy • Oct 18, 2009 6:53 pm

I, for one, can hardly wait to see "Zombieland".

jinx • Oct 18, 2009 7:42 pm

Me too, Woody Harrelson is the man.
Vampires. As if.

[youtube]M-cIjPOJdFM[/youtube]

wolf • Oct 18, 2009 11:28 pm

Get the Zombie Survival Guide.

Study it. Live it. Survive an infestation.

Cicero • Oct 19, 2009 12:38 am

wolf;601867 wrote:
Get the Zombie Survival Guide.

Study it. Live it. Survive an infestation.

Got iiiit!

I love the table of contents. They are a great read. :p

xoxoxoBruce • Oct 19, 2009 4:40 am

I wonder, is the popularity of zombies and vampires an attempt to escape the really scary things that are all around us?

ZenGum • Oct 19, 2009 8:04 am

I swear this is true.

My PhD Thesis is about zombies.

Absolutely really utterly true!

The title is :

Conceivability Arguments Against Physicalism,
[COLOR="LemonChiffon"]..........................[/COLOR]Or ,
How to Slay Zombies and Banish Spectres.

In this context, "zombie" is a short expression for "non-conscious microphysical duplicate of a conscious creature". The point is that if consciousness can be explained by science, then we should be able to derive the facts of consciousness from the microphysical facts (and thus show that zombies are inconceivable, and hence impossible); however, it is notoriously difficult to do this because the essentially first person relationship we have with our own consciousness renders it inaccessible from a scientific approach which is necessarily third-person.
I argued that it is possible to show that there will be some facts of consciousness (thus proving that zombies are impossible) by showing that some computational cognitive systems would take first person approaches to their own states.
However, this reasoning also showed that it is impossible to specify the exact nature of the conscious experience, thus allowing that "spectres" (short for "differently-conscious microphysical duplicate of a conscious creature") are conceivable. However, this conceivability can also be explained by the same reasoning, and so is not taken as evidence for possibility.

Funny, I hadn't been into this stuff for years, but just today I went to the library to get a few books out about this stuff.

wolf • Oct 19, 2009 1:26 pm

xoxoxoBruce;601911 wrote:
I wonder, is the popularity of zombies and vampires an attempt to escape the really scary things that are all around us?

You mean like Liberals?

Cloud • Oct 19, 2009 2:02 pm

we laugh at the face of death. Laugh! I say!

Cicero • Oct 19, 2009 2:20 pm

wolf;601989 wrote:
You mean like Liberals?

Wait- As a self-professed zombie, I refuse to align myself with any political party that has no BRAINS!:D

ZenGum • Oct 30, 2009 5:06 am

I was thinking weird news, but I always say, keep all the undead together.

Grave concerns over Brisbane zombie plague

Brisbane Zombie Walk organisers could face a police bill for future events, after up to 5,000 zombies lurched through the CBD on Sunday.

Zombie Santas, strippers, soldiers and nurses surged through the city on Sunday, forcing police to block off streets and direct traffic.

On Tuesday evening co-organiser Anthony Radaza posted on the Brisbane Zombie Walk Facebook page: We just received the official report from Queensland Police and they tallied over 5,000 participants. Hurray for Brisbane and Zombie lovers."