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 Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2007 2:21 pm
I'm going to preface this by saying that I play way to much Resident Evil. Anyone who knows me outside Gaia will confirm this fact. I'd also like to state that while this may seem kind of silly/whimsical, it is a very serious question. I've actually spent a lot of time thinking about this (like I said, way too much RE... sweatdrop )
Anyway, for those who don't know, the basic premise of the Resident Evil series is that a pharmacuetical company created a virus that turns people into zombies with no thought function greater than the desire to spread the virus. The real world basis for this virus is Ebola (the in game files also say that the virus is a derivitive of Ebola), and one character actually says that the reason the virus was developed was because he wondered what it would be like if a virus existed that made teh infected want to spread it.
What this ulmately boils down to is this: With all the stuff flying around about biological warfare, do you think that someone could create a virus that did this to a person (specifically the zombie part, which I'm classifying as rising from a death-like state/near death/being sustained by the virus to do so when medically dead to spread the disease)?
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Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 6:06 am
Well, in a sense, that's what a virus does... I mean, it replaces a cell's DNA information with its own so that instead of doing whatever the cell is supposed to do it pumps out legions of new viruses. But they're not complex enough to sustain life... they don't even actually meet the standards of life in the first place.
I can't imagine any way to re-animate a corpse, but if the person isn't dead yet then there's no telling what the disease will do... It could take over her central nervous system and hypothetically control their actions... well, more like influece, probably. It'd probably be a little like dementia -- after a while the disease just takes over, and the person dies. And that's not good for the virus, because it'll die unless it finds a new host.
Which means that those zombie people are still people! Creepy. gonk
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Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 9:18 am
A virus that makes people loose all desires except to eat human flesh and spread the virus (I suppose by way of eating human flesh) seems pretty far fetched to me in terms of our ability to make it. I think what we can expect from biological warfare is something simple yet deadly. Like an influenza epidemic, or some sort of immunodeficiency virus like HIV, but one that worked more quickly and was airborne. Imagine if HIV evolved into a airborne virus. That would be awful.
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Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 10:05 am
CleverScreenname A virus that makes people loose all desires except to eat human flesh and spread the virus (I suppose by way of eating human flesh) seems pretty far fetched to me in terms of our ability to make it. I think what we can expect from biological warfare is something simple yet deadly. Like an influenza epidemic, or some sort of immunodeficiency virus like HIV, but one that worked more quickly and was airborne. Imagine if HIV evolved into a airborne virus. That would be awful. Or a virus or bacteria that kills most people in seconds, and those who manage to hold out longer go patently insane within a couple of minutes, committing suicide in a variety of bizarre ways? ninja Not mine, though... Crichton's -- The Andromeda Strain. Ooh, then there's the superflu in The Stand... a superflu like that would probably actually be the most effective, since the flu's so common, anyway. A third of the population would be dead by the time anyone starts wondering if maybe it's a bio weapon... sweatdrop
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Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 3:41 pm
faolan CleverScreenname A virus that makes people loose all desires except to eat human flesh and spread the virus (I suppose by way of eating human flesh) seems pretty far fetched to me in terms of our ability to make it. I think what we can expect from biological warfare is something simple yet deadly. Like an influenza epidemic, or some sort of immunodeficiency virus like HIV, but one that worked more quickly and was airborne. Imagine if HIV evolved into a airborne virus. That would be awful. Or a virus or bacteria that kills most people in seconds, and those who manage to hold out longer go patently insane within a couple of minutes, committing suicide in a variety of bizarre ways? ninja Not mine, though... Crichton's -- The Andromeda Strain. Ooh, then there's the superflu in The Stand... a superflu like that would probably actually be the most effective, since the flu's so common, anyway. A third of the population would be dead by the time anyone starts wondering if maybe it's a bio weapon... sweatdrop I'm not too worried about Captain Trips per se, but I suppose a supervirus is a bit of a worry, and yeah, I'd say that humans could create something like that. The zombification part, on the other hand...I find it rather unlikely that a dead being could be reanimated, and controlled, without any need for oxygen, food, or water. It seems unlikely. Very unlikely. That's no reason, of course, to not be prepared. Did anyone else know that Meijer sells machetes? I just found this out recently. I wonder if other stores sell them...
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Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 3:44 pm
I'm not suggesting that the 'zombies' wouldn't need food or water. They could get food/water and still have some instinctive need to pass the virus, or maybe they just spread the virus until the body is wasted, so to speak.
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Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 4:02 pm
In that case...yeah, that seems like it could happen. A virus that caused someone to go into a state of deep dementia...I could see it.
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Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 8:58 am
I think it's pretty infeasible to have a virus, which is a relatively simple organism that's not exaclty alive anyway, actually be advanced enough to control your urges. Especially one so complex as to continue to spread the virus. That kind of ability, to me, implies intelligence, which viruses do not have.
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Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 1:50 pm
CleverScreenname I think it's pretty infeasible to have a virus, which is a relatively simple organism that's not exaclty alive anyway, actually be advanced enough to control your urges. Especially one so complex as to continue to spread the virus. That kind of ability, to me, implies intelligence, which viruses do not have.
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Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 4:13 pm
writercxvii CleverScreenname I think it's pretty infeasible to have a virus, which is a relatively simple organism that's not exaclty alive anyway, actually be advanced enough to control your urges. Especially one so complex as to continue to spread the virus. That kind of ability, to me, implies intelligence, which viruses do not have. They take over the host, yes. As in, they take over the major body organs that are mostly controled by the autonomic nervous system. I highly doubt anything can be created that is like a virus or a parasite that could actually control our impulses that are normally in the realm of voluntary.
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Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 4:14 pm
CleverScreenname writercxvii CleverScreenname I think it's pretty infeasible to have a virus, which is a relatively simple organism that's not exaclty alive anyway, actually be advanced enough to control your urges. Especially one so complex as to continue to spread the virus. That kind of ability, to me, implies intelligence, which viruses do not have. They take over the host, yes. As in, they take over the major body organs that are mostly controled by the autonomic nervous system. I highly doubt anything can be created that is like a virus or a parasite that could actually control our impulses that are normally in the realm of voluntary.
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Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 4:19 pm
writercxvii CleverScreenname writercxvii CleverScreenname I think it's pretty infeasible to have a virus, which is a relatively simple organism that's not exaclty alive anyway, actually be advanced enough to control your urges. Especially one so complex as to continue to spread the virus. That kind of ability, to me, implies intelligence, which viruses do not have. They take over the host, yes. As in, they take over the major body organs that are mostly controled by the autonomic nervous system. I highly doubt anything can be created that is like a virus or a parasite that could actually control our impulses that are normally in the realm of voluntary. I don't think that's the "intent" of the parasite so to speak. The parasite probably stops the bug in its tracks just from taking over so many of its other bodily functions that don't have as much to do with its consciousness (however much of that it has.) Also, a human is much more complex than a fly.
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Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 4:23 pm
CleverScreenname writercxvii CleverScreenname writercxvii CleverScreenname I think it's pretty infeasible to have a virus, which is a relatively simple organism that's not exaclty alive anyway, actually be advanced enough to control your urges. Especially one so complex as to continue to spread the virus. That kind of ability, to me, implies intelligence, which viruses do not have. They take over the host, yes. As in, they take over the major body organs that are mostly controled by the autonomic nervous system. I highly doubt anything can be created that is like a virus or a parasite that could actually control our impulses that are normally in the realm of voluntary. I don't think that's the "intent" of the parasite so to speak. The parasite probably stops the bug in its tracks just from taking over so many of its other bodily functions that don't have as much to do with its consciousness (however much of that it has.) Also, a human is much more complex than a fly.
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Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 8:08 pm
Cougar Draven faolan CleverScreenname A virus that makes people loose all desires except to eat human flesh and spread the virus (I suppose by way of eating human flesh) seems pretty far fetched to me in terms of our ability to make it. I think what we can expect from biological warfare is something simple yet deadly. Like an influenza epidemic, or some sort of immunodeficiency virus like HIV, but one that worked more quickly and was airborne. Imagine if HIV evolved into a airborne virus. That would be awful. Or a virus or bacteria that kills most people in seconds, and those who manage to hold out longer go patently insane within a couple of minutes, committing suicide in a variety of bizarre ways? ninja Not mine, though... Crichton's -- The Andromeda Strain. Ooh, then there's the superflu in The Stand... a superflu like that would probably actually be the most effective, since the flu's so common, anyway. A third of the population would be dead by the time anyone starts wondering if maybe it's a bio weapon... sweatdrop I'm not too worried about Captain Trips per se, but I suppose a supervirus is a bit of a worry, and yeah, I'd say that humans could create something like that. The zombification part, on the other hand...I find it rather unlikely that a dead being could be reanimated, and controlled, without any need for oxygen, food, or water. It seems unlikely. Very unlikely. That's no reason, of course, to not be prepared. Did anyone else know that Meijer sells machetes? I just found this out recently. I wonder if other stores sell them... Hey, if you think about it, though, having the flu is miserable. You're achy all over, so if you have to move around, it's usually at a slow shuffle, right? And the head and chest congestion is just hell. Between that and the fever that comes along with a nasty flu, I at least just end up grunting responses, since I can't hear what was said very well and can't even seem to manage to figure out anything in my fevered brain... I dunno... if a nasty attack of the flu sounds kinda like being a zombie, then I suppose it's not that outrageous think that one of these years the flu will not just hit us -- it'll sucker-punch us, beat the crap out of us, and steal our wallets, just like it did in 1918. Which, apparently that particular strain might have been so blanketly devastating because it could be spread by avians as well as mammals... which, all in all, is a little creepy...
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Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 8:17 pm
faolan Cougar Draven faolan CleverScreenname A virus that makes people loose all desires except to eat human flesh and spread the virus (I suppose by way of eating human flesh) seems pretty far fetched to me in terms of our ability to make it. I think what we can expect from biological warfare is something simple yet deadly. Like an influenza epidemic, or some sort of immunodeficiency virus like HIV, but one that worked more quickly and was airborne. Imagine if HIV evolved into a airborne virus. That would be awful. Or a virus or bacteria that kills most people in seconds, and those who manage to hold out longer go patently insane within a couple of minutes, committing suicide in a variety of bizarre ways? ninja Not mine, though... Crichton's -- The Andromeda Strain. Ooh, then there's the superflu in The Stand... a superflu like that would probably actually be the most effective, since the flu's so common, anyway. A third of the population would be dead by the time anyone starts wondering if maybe it's a bio weapon... sweatdrop I'm not too worried about Captain Trips per se, but I suppose a supervirus is a bit of a worry, and yeah, I'd say that humans could create something like that. The zombification part, on the other hand...I find it rather unlikely that a dead being could be reanimated, and controlled, without any need for oxygen, food, or water. It seems unlikely. Very unlikely. That's no reason, of course, to not be prepared. Did anyone else know that Meijer sells machetes? I just found this out recently. I wonder if other stores sell them... Hey, if you think about it, though, having the flu is miserable. You're achy all over, so if you have to move around, it's usually at a slow shuffle, right? And the head and chest congestion is just hell. Between that and the fever that comes along with a nasty flu, I at least just end up grunting responses, since I can't hear what was said very well and can't even seem to manage to figure out anything in my fevered brain... I dunno... if a nasty attack of the flu sounds kinda like being a zombie, then I suppose it's not that outrageous think that one of these years the flu will not just hit us -- it'll sucker-punch us, beat the crap out of us, and steal our wallets, just like it did in 1918. Which, apparently that particular strain might have been so blanketly devastating because it could be spread by avians as well as mammals... which, all in all, is a little creepy...
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Reply
