• havokdj@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I didn’t say realistic, but since you want to go there…

    Cordyceps and rabies would be likely candidates for potential real world zombies.

      • havokdj@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Ah yes, they absolutely have to be undead zombies. We definitely do not have any real world examples of zombies that are infact not undead.

        • LemmysMum@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Zombie literally means risen dead. Parasitic control and virus driven dementia aren’t zombification.

          You know what they call a zombie that isn’t dead? A sick person.

          • havokdj@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Alright man look, I’m not going to sit here and have an argument with someone who is being this pedantic.

            Yes, traditionally a zombie is someone who is undead. Traditionally speaking, a zombie also doesn’t eat flesh. You can look this up in Haitian folklore.

            That being said, what we refer to as a zombie is a humanoid who attacks other humans and eats flesh with little to no higher functioning, as in below any living animal. Traditionally speaking, the mind-altered state is part of what makes a zombie a zombie, not just the undead part.

              • havokdj@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                little or no higher functioning

                https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Dahmer

                This is a cannibal with higher functioning. This is not a zombie because he had this higher functioning.

                “Sick person” doesn’t remove a label given to someone based on disease/infection. For instance, someone who has leprosy is called a Leper. A leper doesn’t have to be someone affected with leprosy, as it can also be used in a social context. Likewise, a zombie does not have to be someone who is undead and eats flesh, the term is just used to describe something that seems like this.

                Have you never heard the phrases “you look like a zombie” “I feel zombified”? Those are used in context for a lack of higher functioning and looking like shit.

                • LemmysMum@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  So you want to intentionally ignore the meaning of zombie and replace it with your own. We’re talking about zombies here, not wannabe facsimilies and nicknames based on association with zombies.

                  Everything you listed is derivative of the core concept of zombie but you want to act like they stand on their own merit.

                  • havokdj@lemmy.world
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                    1 year ago

                    You yourself do not even know what it means, since you believe that a human being that eats human flesh with no higher brain function is just a normal old cannibal.

                    The modern concept of zombie is not the core concept, the Haitian folklore is. Concepts change over time, the concept of a zombie is no longer necessarily undead in today’s fairytales. If you can’t somehow wrap that around your head, then you are wasting both of our time and I don’t see a reason to continue this conversation any further.

                    Perhaps you yourself are lacking higher brain functioning? Sounds like I’m talking to a zombie in denial.