Zombies Approach to the Society

ZOMBIES APPROACH TO SOCIETY

A Research Paper Presented to

The English Resource Center

School of Multimedia Arts

Asia Pacific College

Magallanes, Makati

In Partial Fulfilment

of the Requirements for the Course

ERESWRT – Research Writing

Steven Ramos

April 2014

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the study

        Zombies have influenced our culture and our society. It can be seen in different media and entertainment such as television shows, movies and music. It even dominated its influence in games, toys and cartoons that resulted to children’s addiction to zombies. Moreover, talking about the beliefs of other people, zombies influence created two kinds of believers—the believers and non-believers. They are already countless articles, especially on the internet, debating the real existence of zombies.

        Tracy V. Wilson, wrote an article entitled, "How Zombies Work." According to it, that people tend to get addicted to zombies because of the thrill it give to its audience. It then put "Shaun of The Dead", a zombie-comedy movie, as an example of a film that makes zombies more interesting to watch. It then created a worlwide demand to create more zombie movies with new concept such as "28 Days Later" which is a movie that introduces faster zombies.

        Wilson says, "In some portrayals, zombism is contagious, and people bitten by zombies become zombies themselves. In others, people die from the bite and are reanimated by the same force that created the other zombies. In general, this continual spread of zombies leads to a zombie plague in which the undead vastly outnumber living humans." (http://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/strange-creatures/zombie3.htm)

        Speaking of movies, there’s also a lot of references of zombies through movies. One of this is the The Night of the Living Dead, which first introduced zombies as reanimated flesh-eating corpse. Later on, more movies dominated the widescreen such as the 28 Days Later (2002), Shaun of the Dead (2004), and I Am Legend (2007). On television, we have seen the recent success of AMC’s The Walking Dead. As a result, with the development of the motion picture, the zombie became an icon of horror, and a popular movie monster.

        A guest blogger, David Paul Strohecker wrote an article entitled, "On the origin of zombies." According to the article, which generally tackles about zombie movies, that what makes zombie unique from other movie monsters is its unique place of origin. It has a very distinguishable diversion among its predecessors like Frankenstein, Dracula and Wolfman, who originated from Gothic literature. It also explains that movies played a big part in introducing the flesh eating reanimated coprse zombies.

        Strohecker writes, "As we can see, the zombie has a unique cultural history and serves as a powerful metaphor for social anxieties. This movie monster might have come out of the Caribbean, but it became a powerful representation of modern fears when it met the silver screen." (http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2011/02/17/guest-post-on-the-origin-of-zombies/)

        On the other hand, zombies have been a part of gaming for almost 30 years. As the games’ technology is improving, the presence of zombies in games has become more universal than ever. Game designers are often using zombies in games for it is the most demanding game concept in the market. In addition, game designers think that games are meant to be pure escapism, for the most part, and zombies provide the perfect release valve.

        Ryan Lambie wrote an article entitled, "What's with all the zombies in video games?" According to that article, the reason why zombies are so popular in games is because they’re just smart enough to provide us with a challenge, but not so smart that they become an irritation. They’re a recognizable enemy, rather than an amorphous alien blob of teeth and tentacles, which makes them a satisfying prey.

        Lambie says, "Most of us don’t want our enemies to be too smart. We don’t necessarily want them to be so clever that they can outsmart us at every turn. We wouldn’t want to face a pang of guilt if they tried to surrender, or begged for mercy when we trained our guns on them." (http://www.denofgeek.com/games/zombies/26055/what%E2%80%99s-with-all-the-zombies-in-videogames).

        Zombies are very fascinating subject and very interesting topic to talk about. However, the researcher observes that there are effects and similarities of zombies to the society, as well to the modern pop culture we have today. Among these are our social structure between the government and the community and its influence especially to entertainment industry.

        As zombies are becoming widespread phenomena, it had crossed to the researcher’s mind that zombies are not just mythical creatures who eat flesh but they can be a representation and symbol to something particularly to the society. In addition, the researcher also took an observation of how it already affecting us, as it can already been seen everywhere.

        Having background knowledge about zombies will change the reader's perspective that they are not just creature who eats flesh and turn their victim as their own kind but this so-called creatures can also be a representation to something particularly on the society.

        Aside from citing examples of the influence and effects of zombies to the modern pop culture, this paper’s purpose is also to explain the real representation and symbolism of zombies to the society.


B. Statement of the Problem

This study aims to answer this question:

        1. What is the real representation and symbolism of zombies to the society?


C. Significance of the study

        College students of Psychology. This research paper would be able to help students in college who are taking up courses such as Psychology and Sociology because as this paper is about the approach of zombies to modern pop culture, it basically focuses on sociological and psychological effects of zombies.

        Sociologist. Since this paper aims to explain the meaning of zombies to the society, sociologist would benefit a lot to this research. It can help them to understand how similar the zombies are to our social structure.

        Scientists. Scientist would benefit from this study because zombies are not just mythological creatures but also can be a scientific basis. They can use this paper as a reference for their research regarding the further studies of zombies.

        Film Makers. The effects of zombies are now widespread phenomena even in movies. This study would benefit them because they would be able to make use of the information as reference if they going to create a zombie movie in the future.

        Future Researchers. This study can help the future researchers especially if they were studying the same topic of this paper. It will also help the future researchers to relate this topic to psychology since this paper’s main focus is about the psychological effect of the zombies to modern pop culture.

D. Scope and Delimitation

        This study focuses on the real representation of zombies to the society. Zombies have been considered a monstrous flesh eating creatures since the release of the movie Night of the Living Dead that created a big influence especially on the society.

        This study will no longer focus on the history and origin of zombies. It will focus mainly to the meaning and representation of zombies to the society. Due to the approximate number of references of zombies in movies, books, and internet, even in toys and television, the researcher found it very important to study this matter in order to know how it already affected our lives.


E. Materials and Methods

        The sources of data that will be used in this research are mostly gathered articles from the internet the generally tackles about zombies.

        It will be analyzed by pointing out the similarities of zombies to our social structure. This will be observed in the view of sociological and psychological perspective. In addition, the researcher will be going to discuss examples and situations regarding to zombies.

F. Definition of Terms 

1. Zombies. A dead person who is able to move because of magic according to some religions and in stories, movies, etc. (Source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/zombie)

2. Pop Culture. The cultural phenomenon that facilitates the definition of words on the internet. Pop Culture simply denotes a widely accepted group of practices or customs. (Source: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pop%20culture)

3. Social Structure. The organized pattern of social relationships and social institutions that together compose society. Social structures are not immediately visible to the untrained observer, however they are present and affect all dimensions of human experience in society. (Source: http://sociology.about.com/od/S_Index/g/Social-Structure.htm)

CHAPTER 2

DISCUSSION

         What is the real representation and symbolism of zombies to the society?

I. Definition and Myth of Zombies 

         Zombies are often classified as reanimated flesh eating corpses. This concept had started after the film, “The Night of the Living Dead” directed by George Romero. It first introduced zombies as monster that doesn’t just eat flesh, but they can also infect someone they have bitten. Later on, the bite will become widespread, infecting more and more victim, until the tiny bite will become an apocalyptic disaster. In result to this concept, zombies have been stereotyped from the society. There are already a lot of people who are trying to avoid them and even trying not to open them in any topic.

         However, in an article entitled “Zombies: The Real Stories of the Undead,” written by Benjamin Radford, explains that zombies are not originally a flesh-eating monster, but rather a controlled slave that started from the Haitian region.

         In addition to the article, zombies are made through voodoo doctors or bokors. They control and make the "zombified" human being to work for them that can last for years, before they return to their original state. To turn their victim as one of these things, they use specialized powdered formula made from dried leaves and ground animals. And right after the victim dies; the bokors start their ritual until the zombification process is done (http://www.livescience.com/23892-zombies-real-facts.html).

         However, when the first zombie movie came out of the theaters, the real story and definition of zombies started to fade out. Most people, especially those who are unknowledgeable of what real zombies are, are often defining them as monsters.

          “Thus the stories of the real-life Haitian zombies arose like a corpse from the grave, and eventually fell like a zombie shot in the head” (Radford, 2012).

         But the questions about the existence of zombies started to become a mainstream especially when Science decided to step in. In another article entitled "How Zombies Work" by Tracy V. Wilson, around year 1980, a man named Clairvius Narcisse claimed that he was been "zombified" after he was been reported dead on May 2, 1962 in Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Deschapelles. He can even recall the doctor covering his face with a sheet and since the hospital has all the documented proof of his death and illness, scientists started what they called, the "Zombie Project" led by an ethnobotanist and anthropologist, Dr. Wade Davis.

         According to Wilson, “These zombies are mindless slaves. They are not self-aware and are not particularly dangerous unless fed salt, which restores their senses” (http://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/strange-creatures/zombie.htm).

II. Representation and symbols of zombies to the society

A. It represents the growing population

         Zombies are not just the typical flesh-eating monsters you see on television and films. There’s something more about them that needed to understand and study. One of them is that because they represent the growing number of population.

         Population, according to Merriam-Webster dictionary is the total of individuals occupying an area or making up a whole. It means that whether you are in a classroom with your classmates or in a small place even with just 2 or 3 people, you are already creating a population. Even yourself is a population. As long that there is a total number of individuals, there is a population (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/population).

         If you keep watching zombies on films and television, you will notice that there are always big number of zombies on streets, houses, malls and etc. And even the main characters from these movies and television series kill a lot of them, they not will vanish, but instead they will just grow and grow in numbers.

         Just like zombies, society also has its issues when it comes to population. Since the beginning of time, society already has a big number of population, but not as big as it is today. The world’s population is getting bigger every second, every hour, and every year. And one of the reasons of the growing population is because of early pregnancy especially among teenagers.

         Teenage pregnancy can either be intentional and unintentional. It will become intentional if the person concerned had sex to its opposite partner without using any reproductive health materials. It is very common to teenagers who had experienced molest from their childhood and rebellious teenagers. Sometimes, because of the satisfaction that sex is giving them, they don’t care even though they become pregnant as long as they were happy about what they are doing. On the other hand, unintentional teenage pregnancy is caused from rape or forced sex.

Whether it is intentional or unintentional, both of them still contribute to the growing number of population. 

         Just like teenage pregnancy, the growing number of zombies can also be either intentional or unintentional. Intentional growing numbers of zombies are caused by those people who chose to die rather to live in a traumatic and apocalyptic world. They offer themselves intentionally to the zombies to become like them or because they are already over with their lives. However, unintentional growing numbers of zombies are those people who were accidentally bitten and scratched from these flesh-eating monsters. Even though these people still want to live, they have no choice but to die because of the bite and turn into a monster they used to hate.

         But the best thing that makes zombies represent the growing number of population is because its growth is unstoppable. Same as China, even though they already have a law, “one child policy,” wherein people on their country are just permitted to have one child in the family only, they are still considered the country with the most population. Just like zombies, even though you already shielded yourselves and found a stable place to stay, one day, you’ll all just turn like them in the end. And yourself will contribute to their growing number.

         In an article, “The Cultural Significance of Zombies in Contemporary Society,” author Lore Miner says, “But this is nothing new; the human population has been growing steadily since the end of the Black Death in the fourteenth century, and it has been exploding since the 1950's.  What is new is that we are finally beginning to experience the repercussions of growth: our resources are being rapidly depleted, we are polluting our environment, global temperature is rising and sea levels will soon follow.  And we feel helpless to stop it” (http://seanprobson.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-cultural-significance-of-zombies-in_11.html).

B. It represents conformity

         Conformity, according to Merriam-Webster dictionary is a behavior that is the same as the behavior of most other people in a society, group, etc. For example, when joining a fraternity or sorority, it is not enough to undergo in an initiation for you to become a legal member. Most of the time, you are abide to follow their laws and rules whether you like it or not (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conformity).

         In an article entitled “Zombie Love: Why Are We So Obsessed with Things That Want to Eat Our Brains?” V Renée states, “We all like to be considered individuals, right? However, a lot of aspects of our life uniform us into a collection, or horde, of similar entities” (http://nofilmschool.com/2013/06/zombie-love-obsessed-eat-brains/).

         Renée statement is all true. Even though people want to consider themselves as individuals, they don’t have a choice but to follow a certain order and protocol. Sometimes, they are unaware that they are already in a conformity. For instance is following the traffic lights. When driving on a road with hundreds of cars and vehicles, once the traffic lights goes red all cars will stop together. When it’s green, then they will continue to drive. Same goes if it turns orange where they will all slow down their cars. Even though they are just driving their cars, to be on a road with other drivers and cars are already an act of conformity—following the traffic lights.

         Another example is going to school and work. School and work maybe in a different situation, but both of them have certain rules to follow. When you’re going to school, especially if you are a student, then you must wear the uniform of that certain school. Another, as a student, you must listen to the teacher and do your homework just as what other students do. When it comes to work, it’s the same thing; you wear the same uniform and work like what other employees/workers do. For short, you don’t have a choice but to follow what is needed to be followed or else you’ll get into trouble.

         Conformity, when it comes to social life is not that different to the conformity zombies have. When a person turns into a zombie, they don't have any choice also but to follow their basic protocol—to eat and devour flesh. Much like going to school or work, people all lose their identity if they become zombies. In addition, similarly to a driver or motorist driving on a highway, zombies are also unaware that they are doing and following to same thing and that is to eat.

In the article, the author adds, “But, this all falls on the loss of choice. Zombies don’t have a choice about whether or not they want to be zombies and eat people. They are now one of millions upon millions of mindless and disposable beings” (Renée, 2013).

C. It represents the society for using too much technology

         Technology helps people in different situations. It helps them to do their chores easily and to do their homework accurately. Also, technology evolves from time to time. As more as the technology blooms, the more people become dependent on them. The more they become hi-tech, the more people become reliant on letting them do their human stuff.

         One example is the evolution of cell phones. Even before cell phones become popular as it is today, only those who can afford it can only have them. Furthermore, people can still talk with each other and send letters through traditional mails even cell phones are already emerging from the markets. However, today, where cell phones are already a major trend among all ages, people are now spending most of their time to it, and even consider this gadget as their major source of communication.

         Another example of technology where people put most of our time into it is the computers. Just as cell phones, computers are also considered as a major source of communication especially because it is already accompanied with internet connection. But unlike cell phones, communication through computers is much faster and accurate. Without the means of dialing the person you want to talk to, just as what cell phones do, communication through internet and computers is just one click away.

         Aside from communication, there are still other things that computers can do.  Examples are for gaming and research purposes. People who prefer to use computer as a means of entertainment, plays computer games such as, massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) and other online games. For these people, these kinds of games are perfect opposite of themselves for it makes them extraordinary compare to what they are in real life. On the other hand, for the people who use computers for research purposes, tend to consider this technology as the easiest way for doing their assignments and paper works.

         Technology, especially cell phones and computers, may have a lot of advantages especially when it comes to daily chores, are also affecting the ways people live. Unknown to their knowledge, depending too much on technology is already lessening their ability to do human stuff. For short, it makes them a zombie in their own way.

         Zombies are generally known as reanimated corpses without any human ability and personality. Also, from their physical appearances, they are even described to display visible signs of decay on their faces, weak and thin and dehydrated. Same as zombies, by too much usage of technology, people's physical appearances are not that too far away now from what zombie's look. One example are those people who choose to stay up late because of their addiction to cell phones and computers. As a result of this addiction, they don’t even eat which make them into weak, thin and dehydrated look, same as zombies.

         Once again, technology even if you don't admit it, makes you feel like a zombie yourself because it lessens your human ability. Furthermore, an article, “Zombie Love: Why Are We So Obsessed with Things That Want to Eat Our Brains?” supports the idea of how zombie represents the society by using too much technology.

         V Renée, the author of the article states, “Perhaps zombies represent the result of too much technology and not enough humanity — too many Facebook comments and not enough handshakes. The day we become zombies is the day when our human empathy is replaced with mindless musings about pop culture” (http://nofilmschool.com/2013/06/zombie-love-obsessed-eat-brains/).

         By continuing to use too much technology, it will not be impossible for people to turn into a zombie community. Not literally a flesh-eating monster, but a zombie who always relies and depends on advanced technologies. 

D. It represents the society for having too much consumerism

         One characteristic of zombies and the most common thing everyone knows about them, is they eat a lot. They eat like they never ate for how many centuries and generation. Even if they’re full, they still prefer to eat. They don’t care even if their stomachs explode. They will eat whenever and wherever they want.

         Much like zombies, humans are also made to consume. Meaning, everyone has a lot of requirements and demands in order to survive. For example is their being consumerist when it comes to food.

         People don’t literally eat like how zombies do, but they consume a lot of food just like zombies. Today, the society considers foods as a primary need to survive. Without foods, they can’t live for months and years. It is because, foods regain their strength and it also gives them energy. Since humans require to work, their energy drains easily. That is why they consume a lot of foods to regain the energy they had lost. And as a proof that they consume a lot of foods, people become fat and unhealthy.

         Second thing that proofs humans are having too much consumerism is the clothes. Even they admit it or not, they love attention; they love how people notice them the way they look, especially the way they dress. As they love these attentions, they ought to buy a lot of clothes to get more and more attention. It is because it makes us feel like a celebrity in shortest period of time. 

Another reason why humans consume a lot clothes is because they follow the trends. People are known to follow what is new and what is common. It is because following these trends makes them feel they belong to the society. For short, they don’t want to feel outcast from other people. It is also because they believe that once they are now belonged to the society, they will meet a lot of friends and other people who have the same interests as ours.

         Finally, the usage of too much technology is also a sign of too much consumerism. People use too much technology because they consume them a lot by buying gadgets especially the new trends. However, they consume a lot of technologies and gadgets not just because they want to follow what is new, but because of the satisfaction it gives them. For example, when they are bored, stressed or lonely, they use computers, gaming consoles, mp3 players and other technologies to cease their boredom. Because of this advantage and satisfaction, they become obsess to them. Therefore, their obsession leads us to become consumerist. And as a result, they can’t now live without these gadgets and technologies.

         The concept of malls and stores today emerges because of the unstoppable demand and consumerism of the society. Different brands, products are also emerging which attract human to consume more. Sometimes, when new gadgets, clothes and other stuff just came out of the market, they race each other to buy it first. Just like zombies, wherein, if they saw even just one living flesh roaming around, they race each other to eat it first. Also, their never-ending hunger represents the society's unstoppable demands and consumerism.

         In an article, “Zombie Love: Why Are We So Obsessed with Things That Want to Eat Our Brains?” the author, V Renée says, “I don’t think it’s an accident that zombies are driven by the need to just — consume. It’s everything that they are. The fear that consumerism is stealing our humanity is real, and fits well as a metaphor for zombies” (http://nofilmschool.com/2013/06/zombie-love-obsessed-eat-brains/).

CHAPTER 3
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS

SUMMARY

         This paper attempted to determine the real representation and symbolism of zombies
to the society.

         The research design used in this study is the descriptive research method wherein data from documents, articles and books found in the internet were used to answer the research question posed. The research findings are the following:

1. Zombies originated from Haiti wherein they were used as slave and they're not really like the usual flesh-eating monster people know from television.

2. The concept of zombies as a flesh-eating monster emerged after the first zombie film, "The Night of the Living Dead" directed by George Romero.

3. Zombies are the metaphor of humanity. This is why other tend to love them because they can relate themselves from zombies.

4 Zombies represents the society in different ways specifically a.) population, b.) conformity, c.) over usage of technology and d.) consumerism of the society.


CONCLUSION

         Based on the finding of this study, the following conclusions are drawn:

1. There is nothing impossible for people to become zombies; not the usual flesh-eating monster but the dehydrated, weak and thin appearances and less human characteristics as them because of using too much technology.

2. Nowadays, people are trying to escape the conformity of the society, but same as zombies and from what they represent about conformity, they don't have a choice also but to follow the rules and flow of the societies they are living with.

3. People and zombies both have their own demands and craving about a certain thing to meet their satisfaction. And because of this never ending demands, both of them end to too much consumerism.

4. People are unaware of the real representation of zombies to the society. 


RECOMMENDATIONS

         After drawing conclusions of the study, the researcher hereby makes the following suggestions/recommendations:

1. People should lessen their fear about zombies. They should understand and study the zombies' real meaning especially on how it represents the society.

2. People, especially readers, teachers and students should be more aware of how technology and consumerism are affecting them. It is because these things can turn them into a zombie like characteristic person without their knowledge.

3. Scholars and future researchers should research more about how zombies represent the society by comparing how people live to the way zombies live. They should understand that zombies are not just a material to scare people but they can provide concrete comparison on how people live today. Use this study as a basis for a more concrete study in the future regarding or related to the same topic as this study.


REFERENCES

A. Electronic Media

Lambie, R. (2013, June 24). What’s with all the zombies in videogames? Retrieved March 16, 2014 from http://www.denofgeek.com/games/zombies/26055/what%E2%80%99s-with-all-the-zombies-in-videogames

Strohecker, D. (2011, February 17). On The Origin of Zombies. Retrieved March 16, 2014 from http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2011/02/17/guest-post-on-the-origin-of-zombies/

Renée, V. (2013, June 22). Zombie Love: Why Are We So Obsessed with Things That Want to Eat Our Brains? Retrieved March 30, 2014 from http://nofilmschool.com/2013/06/zombie-love-obsessed-eat-brains/

Wilson, T. (n.d.). How Zombies Work. Retrieved March 30, 2014 from http://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/strange-creatures/zombie.htm

Raford, B. (2012, October 10). Zombies: The Real Story of the Undead. Retrieved March 30, 2014 from http://www.livescience.com/23892-zombies-real-facts.html


Robson, S. (2013, March 11). The Cultural Significance of Zombies in Contemporary Society. Retrieved March 30, 2014 from http://seanprobson.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-cultural-significance-of-zombies-in_11.html

Blogpost # 8: The Zombie Survival Greatest Weapons

A lot of evidences show that a zombie apocalypse is probably possible to happen; others stated that it is impossible, since these evidences are not consistent with one another. We can't answer all these questions by just reading some articles alone that's why filmmakers intended to create zombie movies as an additional references, but the result is unintentional. It created a massive effect on our society especially on our imagination. Like for example, others already created and written articles such as how to survive the said apocalypse, and some are building houses, tactics and strategies against the zombie horde.

In an article from badgerherald.com entitled, "How to survive the zombie apocalypse: follow Max Brooks’ common sense tips," written by Allie Johnson, evolves on a person named Max Brooks. He is the author of the novels, The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z, that is now adopted into a major blockbuster film.

According to Max Brooks, he created these novels not because he wants to give entertainment to the readers but because he wants answers to his questions. He confessed that he did not expected "The Zombie Survival Guide" to be published because he's just writing it for himself. He added, unlike any other zombie movies and television shows, the book's intention is to create a legitimate individual preparedness guide in the event of a zombie apocalypse. To make it simpler, the book contains much more common sense than any other.

The key to survival, according to the book, is specialization. It is creating an interlocking group in which every person has their own role that increases their chances of survival. This technique is very contradicting to what the Hollywood is commonly trying to tell us to do-- to carry heavy weapons such as machine guns and to drive cars that will eventually run of out gas. However, the book suggests the readers to just carry weapons that could be used in hand to hand combat and use bicycles instead.

On the other hand, in writing "World War Z," Brooks also confessed that he wrote it to know how the government will respond to this kind of situation. He shared in this article his disappointments to the movie because according to him, the movie adaptation just have the same title as his novel but the story between the two is very much different. In the movie, Brad Pitt (played as the protagonist) becomes a hero who saves the world where in reality, Brooks didn't write any of this. In his novel, he portrays zombies as a slow moving creature inherited by disease, not to affect animals to give the idea that humans are not totally doomed.

“I thought ‘okay I’m just going to write for me and write what’s practical,” said Max Brooks.

For me, Max Brooks is such a great writer. Base from the books he wrote and his statements, we can conclude that he is a critical thinker. He is not thinking the way other zombie writers used to think. He is making his own perspective about this undead and he's putting more common sense and logic in case an apocalypse such as zombies will occur.

In addition to this article, another related short article, "Animals would stop the zombie apocalypse before it started," from i09.com written by Annalee Newitz, focuses on the other weapon we can use to fight the zombies which is the nature. It talks about the wildlife's greatest predators and world's most common decomposers.

The article started from the predators specifically the jaguars. Jaguars came from the family of cats and it is the world's fastest animal. Naturalists say that zombies, described as slow moving and mindless creatures, are no match with this animal. Also, its bite delivers 2,000 pounds of pressure per inch and can stun a zombie before it can even bites back. To sum it up, with the jaguar's dangerous killing method and speed makes it a natural predator.

Second thing from nature, still according from the article, are the decomposers. One common thing that people know about decomposers is that, they are basically feed by rotting flesh and dead meat. Zombies, on the other hand, possesses the same characteristics. With their rotting flesh ad smelly odor, they can easily attract insects and decomposers that can consume them in a just a week. One more advantage of these tiny creatures is that, zombies can't fight back. Their size can make them invisible to the zombies.

Annalee Newitz states, "In most zombie apocalypse scenarios, only humans are converted into the shambling undead. And according to one naturalist, that's why zombie takeovers are doomed to fail. In the war between zombies and nature, nature would win."

This is generally true. Believing easily on what zombie movies from the Hollywood automatically concludes us that we're underestimating the power of nature. Our experiments and discoveries maybe taken too far already, but nature still has its unsolved mysteries. Nature's power is beyond our human capabilities. In fact, we humans are part of the nature itself.

The tactics, strategies and plans that most people are doing right now are advantages in case that the apocalypse will really occur. Actually it makes us busy creating new weapons and gadgets to make ourselves invulnerable to the zombies' attack. Are we really creating something to protect the humanity? Or creating something that makes us to superiority? In fact, we don't need to do this. Nature itself is our zombie survival greatest weapon.

Blogpost # 7: The Last Possible Infections

The movie "The Night of the Living Dead" created a big influence to everyone. It started the phenomena among scientist and ordinary people about the existence of a cannibalistic zombie. Though, before the concept of this flesh-eating corpses arrives, the idea of going back to life after death even in ancient era, is never a new issue anymore. And speaking of this phenomena, theories of how it will happen is now categorized into four namely, viral infection, toxin infection, mythological infection and spiritual infection.

These theories were supported by an article entitled, "Zombie Infection Theories" from zombieinformer.com. There is no specific author mentioned, but the article is mainly about the four infection theories mentioned earlier. It explained the theories one by one with scientifical basis.

The first infection in the article is about the viral infection. Among all the infection stated, this is the most common infection we all know and what the Hollywood movies about zombies portray that will trigger the plague. In addition, the article doesn't explain this viral infection as a virus alone but the author divided its explanation into two parts: the natural virus and the man made pathogen.

The natural virus, according to the author is an evolved virus from a specific virus. He added that this virus is incurable much like HIV and Malaria. He suggests that it will mutate on its own and will find its way into human population. On the other hand, the man made pathogen is a laboratory experiment, that can be spread by either accident or on purpose. But for the author's opinion, either man made or natural virus, both of them function on the same purpose; to start a plague and destroy the human race.

The next theory is about the toxin infection. This theory is very much similar to my previous blog post. It is based on the voodoo practices in Haiti, where the concept of zombies started. The author explains that this theory originates from a toxic powder which can be created from a blowfish bladder. This powder stands like an antidote used by priests to turn a corpse as their mindless slave.

The third theory is all about mythological infection. This infection is related to the toxin infection, it is just that, this theory is more about magical spells and curses. The author explains that zombies are very closely related to other famous mythological creatures, such as vampires and werewolves, because three of them were created through biting. He also stated that vampires are the first creatures to be classified as zombies, because them too are immortals and can only be feed by blood. It just a matter of time when zombies and vampires are classified as individuals because vampires are more sexually desirable creatures unlike zombies that play our very human aversion to the dead.

The last one of the theories is the spiritual infection. This infection theory is very different among the three because it adapts biblical references. It explains that, if there will be no more room for the dead in the afterlife, the soul becomes distorted, deranged and destroyed until it stuck in the human body. As a result, ourselves will turn into a mad mindless creatures looking for flesh meat to eat. But unlike the viral, toxin, and mythological infections, the transmission of spiritual infection is much more complicated. It cannot be transmitted through bite, but the author explains that it can be transmitted through emotional pain that naturally kills a human soul (where to cycle begins) and so on.

"The zombie outbreak will ultimately be a product of our own making, and we, as a race, will either fall victim to it, or rise against it. How it occurs could either be a way to defeat it, or a way to understand ourselves," states the author.

The author's statement is very similar from other authors' statements as well. Zombie outbreak is definitely just a product of our own imagination. As long as there are many theories that explains how the apocalypse will happen, the more we're going to be confused to the idea.

Since spiritual infection theory is not so familiar when it regards to the zombie outbreak, is this could be the last possible infection? And since it has biblical references, a short article found in zombiesarecoming.com entitled, "Zombies in the Bible?" written by Angryvikingman, presents verses that explain prophecies about the zombie apocalypse.

The author shows excerpts from Zechariah and Revelations. Here is one verse found on the article from Zechariah 14:12:

"And the LORD will send a plague on all the nations that fought against Jerusalem. Their people will become like walking corpses, their flesh rotting away. Their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths."

It is not clearly explained if this verse is about the zombie apocalypse. But from what the verse stated, it is clearly similar to the characteristics of a zombie; walking corpse with rotten body. Many were terrified to this because most of them take the bible as the truth. It is their general reference and guide to their life and to the future.

Angryvikingman also added that maybe the prophets who made the prophecy about this may have seen exactly what will happen. But because science is not yet emerging from those times, they were just able to explain it using simple words and not as accurately as it was explained today.

"The bible is rife with resurrection, the dead coming to life, and stories and alliterations to the end of times. Perhaps, the plague God uses to wipe the earth clean is a plague of Zombies," says the author.

We are very different from the way God thinks. We are just his creation and we are far beyond his own knowledge. We may explain the complexity of his creations using science, but we can't explain it as what God can do. He is the God. He creates the divine plan. He plans what will happen to the world and how it will end. We are just created to follow these plans and give praise to him. If God will create a zombie plague, the only thing we could do is to trust Him. He always have a better plan for us anyway.

Again, all the possibilities of zombie apocalypse were already presented. It gets more complicated and more complicated. Whether you believe the viral infection theory, or the toxin infection theory, or either mythological and spiritual infection theory, it is your choice. You have free will to decide which of this theory you're going to believe in. That is your power. You have the power to decide.

Blogpost # 6: Zombie for the Believers and Non-Believers

The influence of zombie apocalypse movies is a widespread. It changed the society's perspective that it can happen any time now. After it became a mainstream, a lot of theorists are now presenting their ideas and hypothesis to the possibilities for it to happen. Others at the same time, are creating articles regarding on how to survive the said apocalypse. However, the idea was not really approved by everyone. Some were not contended even though plenty of scientific evidences support it. Instead, the non-believers also use scientific evidences and explanations that zombie outbreak is a failure.

In an article from cracked.com entitled, "7 Scientific Reasons a Zombie Outbreak Would Fail (Quickly)" by David Dietle, explains all the possible things that can ruin the most-feared outbreak. The article started from a proposition that zombies are real and the logic that are commonly found in any zombie shows and movies.

More on about the article, the first scientific reason that zombie outbreak will fail is because we have too many natural predators. Dietle goes back in explaining that humans are the creatures on the top of the food chain. It is because, we are the only creature who can kill anything skillfully and can think critically, but we all lose this human characteristics as we turn into a zombie. He also explains that by losing these characteristics, we will become visible to other natural predators. Examples are decomposers, such as maggots and insects, since they are feed by rot flesh as what a zombie's skin looks like. Dietle also added that zombies are no match to wildlife such as in Africa where it is terrorized by cannibalistic lions.

Next scientific explanations are, zombies can't take both heat and cold. As what mentioned earlier, one of the major characteristics of this undead is their rotting flesh. Imagine a meat being exposed to the sun for a whole day. Later on, it will rot. Moreover, how about if this happens to a rotting flesh of a zombie? It will not just become rotter, but will become fully dysfunctional. Aside from that, as what other articles stated, zombies have weak bodies. If they were exposed to cold due to winter, their bodies will become too rigid and too fragile.

Fourth reason is about the bite. As a recall to my previous blog post, one of the main reason that can trigger this apocalypse is through biting. It is not just the main reason but the most common reason to the epidemic, according from science and of course, from movies. If this is a very common reason, then it is not a problem anymore in tracing back where it originates. It will always just about a guy who bites and can be defeated if he's shot to the head.

According to the article, another reason is that zombies doesn't have any healing abilities. Healing abilities are one of the best ability human possesses. It can restore our body from deep cuts and wounds. Since zombies doesn't have any of this ability anymore, their wounded bodies will eventually get worse until they weren't able to attack or take advantage.

Second to the last reason is that, our environment is full of zombie-proof barriers. Zombies are naturally the dumbest creature on planet. They almost lost 90% of human abilities they once had. The author also stated that we don't need to do what protagonists or group of survivors do in movies and television shows. Let mother nature do the task for ourselves.

The last reason is because we are generally armed with weapons. We are now living in a technology era and we already created a lot of highly functional and advanced weapons. As what the article stated, "zombies are the dumbest creature on planet." What can these "dumb" creatures can do with the advanced technologies? They can't even hold a gun for themselves. All they do is to walk, to growl and to eat. We could just blow up their heads into pieces without even touched by them. Not to mention skilled criminals terrorist and atomic bombs that can destroy a whole country and race.

"Really, even if zombies existed right now, the whole concept of a zombie apocalypse is just laughable," says David Dietle.

From all of the articles I've read, I strongly agree to this statement. It is really laughable because even though a lot of hypothesis supports the existence of zombie apocalypse, they forgot to take into account the scientific reasons as what this article stated. Well, it happens most of the time. Before we believe into something, we must first think about how it will happen and how it will not happen.

Every person on this planet varies from the way they think. There still others who want the apocalypse to happen. In another article from the same site entitled, "5 Reasons You Secretly Want a Zombie Apocalypse" by Jame Davidson, explains the other reasons why most people want a zombie apocalypse. And from what the site actually do, they ranked it from the least reason to the most common reason.

The fifth reason, according to the author, is because of the guilt free violence. As what I've mentioned from my previous blog post, younger generations tend to be more attractive to zombies. It is because they are looking for more experience and thrilling emotions. In case that the outbreak happens, we are now free to do want we want. We can ruin the street, we can kill these monsters without grieving any guilt.

Next is because of free Stuff, without all that damned work. Waking up early in the morning, doing our school works, and etc., are sometimes get so boring especially if we keep doing it everyday. With zombie apocalypse, we are now free from our daily routine schedule. In addition to that, there will be tons of free stuff such as cars, abandoned luxury cars that can be availed even with just walking down the streets. Who else will not rejoice from "free stuff?"

As the technology emerges, life becomes more complex. The author of the article exemplified how life is on the stone age eras, where we can easily find food by just hunting. Unlike now, you need to work non-stop for almost 12 hours a day, 30 times a month, just to earn money which we can use to avail our foods. If the apocalypse happens, life will become simple again. Hiding, hunting, defending yourselves are all you just need to do and no more irritating boss, paper works will be done.

Second, still from the article, is that zombie apocalypse can make us act like a jerk without any consequences. Try to dig up your mind about things you want to do with your life; take a poo on the street? Be naked in public? Ride a helicopter and make it explode with a bazooka just like from the game Grand Theft Auto? Whatever fantasies we have in our mind, the apocalypse will allow us to do it. No more cops, no more laws that keep holding our necks throughout our lives.

Last one is because we all want to become the alpha dog. Most of the people hate about their life right right now, is because they are servant of their own bosses. Let us face it. No one wants to be under of anybody. But these days, we don't have the choice. We are all born with different life statuses. Zombie apocalypse, worst as it is, but it can help us to achieve our own dreams. We can either build our own group or be a member of a certain group. It's our choice anyway.

"That's why the collapse of society is key in a Zombie Apocalypse," says James Davidson.

The idea of being free because of zombie apocalypse is nice but it's kind a disappointing from what the author had stated. The society that once we had since we were born will collapse in any second, once the outbreak starts. Personally, I want to do everything I want, but I don't want the society to collapse. The rules of the society is what makes life more exciting because it limits us. If we could just do whatever we want, eventually we will get tired of it. For short, you will appreciate more what you've got if you took it by effort.

There will always be two kinds of people regarding to zombie apocalypse; the believers and non-believers. The believers will always pursue this to happen while the non-believers will always state the possibilities for it to not happen. But its not the right time to decide which of the both sides is right or wrong. The best thing we can do is to prepare; prepare for the worst, and prepare for the best.

Blogpost # 5: Fantasy or Reality: Zombie Apocalypse Conspiracy Theories

The Beatles is a Grammy award winning band that bloomed from early 1980s. They are the singer of different classical songs such as Stairaway to Heaven, I Wanna Hold Your Hand and Till There Was You. But have you heard about the conspiracy theory about them? That Paul McCartney died even before they make their 11th studio album, the Abbey Road? That he was replaced by a look alike throughout their career? How about the 9/11 attack conspiracy theory that it was planned all along by the American themselves?

According to www.merriam-webster.com, conspiracy theory is a theory that explains an event or set of circumstances as the result of a secret plot by usually powerful conspirators. If a specific event is covered up or secretly hidden to people, it is already considered an act of conspiracy. It becomes a theory because it is just a proposition. Meaning, there's no particular decision whether the act of conspiracy is real or not. Likewise to what this post is all about, the zombie itself is not an exception for having different kinds of conspiracy theories.

A lot of site will give you different list of conspiracy theories involving zombies. But I've found a most accurate article from www.followingthenerd.com. An article from the site entitled, "CONSPIRACY CORNER: The Zombie Apocalypse" by Marc focuses only on the three most popular zombie apocalypse conspiracy theory. He ranked it according to which among the three is most-well known and most talked about.

The first from his list is the most controversial Dulce Base in New Mexico. For history diggers and alien geeks, it a basic knowledge for them that Mexico is really a place where countless of alien sightings have been reported. Going back, according to the article, that this base is manipulated by alien life force. These aliens have partnered to the government scientists in return to the favor the aliens gave us; advanced knowledge and technology. The author also stated that these government scientists are allowing these aliens to do whatever experiment they wanted. And one of this experiment is creating a certain virus that can turn the whole human race into this "living dead."

The second is the conspiracy theory about the Nazi experiments. Even after the end of World War II, Nazis still remain mysterious. Named as the most terrifying war group who created the most terrible holocaust to the history of the world, most of the Nazi members are best and brightest scientist. Moreover, a Nazi physician and SS Officer named Josef Mengele is believed to be the one responsible in experiments pertaining to the creation of zombies. According to Marc or according to what this conspiracy theory is all about, Jewish prisoners during these times are the main subject to Mengele's experiment. He turns them into mindless slaves that obey whatever orders Nazis tell them. However, after Hitler's death and end of World War II, all traces and evidences related to this experiment were burned. But the Americans can't hide their admiration to intelligence of the Nazis. In spite of the terrible things they've done, they will be forgiven unless they will join the Americans in pioneering projects such as space exploration and etc.

The third, which Marc considers as the most popular among all the zombie apocalypse conspiracy theories, is the Miami 'Zombie' Attack. It is a news that shocked not just America but the whole world! It even became one of the mainstream topic across the internet and mass media. This issue involves a 31 year old man named Rudy Eugene who just randomly attacks and gnaws a 65 year old homeless man in the face. As the attack is happening, a Miami police officer shoots Eugene once but instead, the attacker just growls, ignores the police officer and eventually continues chewing the homeless man's face. In the end, the police officer fires three more shot that finally kills Eugene. According to the reports regarding to Rudy Eugene's ruthless behavior, it is clearly a side effect of 'bath salts' which caused a person to become insane, develop cannibalistic tendencies and appear to gain inhuman strength. But contrary to Eugene's autopsy report, the only drug found on his a body is marijuana. Conspiracy theorists believe that 'bath salt' thing is only a cover up on what really happened to Eugene. What makes it more suspicious is it eventually vanished from the headlines and no more related reports have been added.

"Like all conspiracy theories the initial idea must come from somewhere and of course these ideas are many and varied...," stated Marc.

Conspiracy theories especially zombie apocalypse conspiracy theories are not just created without a strong basis and evidence. Whatever versions we hear or read, they still aiming the same point; zombie apocalypse is now starting or has been started already. Another, upon researching for articles for my previous blog entries, I've found a hard time believing to the possibilities for zombie apocalypse to happen, but after this research, it changed a part of my belief.

The ideas of zombie conspiracy theories really got my attention. An article entitled "Questions Answered: Is a Zombie Virus Outbreak Possible?" from thecount.com, though no specific writer was given, is so much related to the previous article especially to the Miami 'Zombie' Attack. It is an article that focuses to possible reason of the said attack -- the LQP-79 virus.

LQP-79 is an acronym because it is basically the 79th attempt made at formulating Lysergic Quinine Protein. From the word, 'formulating' itself, we can conclude that this virus is a man made pathogen. As what was mentioned from the previous article, the 'bath salt' drug is just a cover for what really happened to the incident, that conspiracy theorists even consider this virus a main reason for Eugene's change of attitude.

The article doesn't explains a lot to LQP-79. It is just a series of the author's opinion about people who think that a.) zombie outbreak is possible, b.) zombies will never be real, c.) the LQP-79 virus is real, and d.) it's all a conspiracy theory. He answers every opinion one by one according to what he have researched about the virus.

The author is not clearly taking any sides among the believers and non-believers. He is completely neutral by giving his own opinion. According to him, as what the usual zombie tale looks like, in order to spread the virus as the LQP-79, the host of the virus must look for a healthy victim and bite him. Though LQP-79 can be a possibility for the zombie apocalypse to happen, the author said that it's not strong enough to support a reanimated body. It can control a zombie for quite a while but the zombie will not able to survive it-- however, the virus could.

"The name seems to not be real or established officially, but a zombie virus doesn't sound all that ‘out there’, considering the fact that many conspiracy theories have been proven true," stated the author.

For me, the author made a big point. LQP-79 is not created out of nowhere. I don't have the main idea of what this virus really means because most of the websites that talk about this virus were all shut down. Is it an act of conspiracy? That the people behind it are trying to hide us the full information to avoid panics? If that's the case and if this virus is a man made pathogen, what's the reason of creating it? Conspiracy theory or not, both sides all made sense. When will the issue of zombie existence will end? Is it really going to end or it will just end up to another circles of questions?