If you're a die-hard fan of the Walking Dead, or have any belief that a zombie apocalypse may happen, this is probably not the article for you. Lately, TV shows about brain-eating zombies and post-apocalyptic worlds have exploded with popularity. At first, I thought it was just a fad. Sure, it can be fun to talk about zombies or watch them mull around aimlessly on television, but lately it seems that most people are convinced an apocalypse is actually going to happen. A prime example is the National Geographic reality series called Doomsday Preppers. This show broadcasts live families that are stocking up on arsenals of guns, food rations, survival equipment and creating bomb shelters in their own backyards. Now, let's keep in mind that this show is called REALITY TELEVISION, much like those ridiculous MTV shows and Jerry Springer. However, the families shown on this series are fully convinced that economic or societal collapse is just around the corner....
I read an article on Cracked. com that brought forth 5 reasons why a "zombie apocalypse is scientifically possible". Let me reiterate their idea: apparently, there is a parasite called toxoplasmosa gondii, which infects rats, and causes them to be "mindless, zombie-like slaves". The parasite infects the rat, but can only "breed inside the intestines of cats". So, the article goes on to say that the infection takes over the rat's brain and makes the rat scurry toward cats so it will be eaten... So, how does this even relate to humans? Let's continue the read. It says that apparently, "half the earth's population is infected with toxoplasmosa" and that it will "only take a more evolved version of toxoplasmosa" before we end up like those rats. If you're reading this and it makes no sense, it's probably because this article was designed to run around in circles because what they are presenting is, unfortunately, total bulls***. If you look up toxoplasmosa even on a simple search engine like Wikipedia, you will find that the information Cracked. com presented on their website is skewed half-truths mixed up with fancy words that catch your attention. The only way toxoplasmosa is transmittable to humans is through eating infected meat, or more graphically, eating the feces of a cat infected with the parasite. Yes, you literally have to eat cat poop to catch this parasite. So why is this article, like millions of other articles on the internet, serving us with half-truths and trying to make us believe in such a far-fetched idea?
Maybe people believe in the idea of the "end all" because they are unhappy with the world today. Maybe people love these shows because there is a hero and a villain, and we all want to become the hero. Or maybe, we have a morbid fascination with our deaths and if we will go out in a blaze of glory. Personally, I do not buy into the hype of zombie apocalypse or the idea of the world ending. Friends, our fate is something that we cannot foresee.
Cracked. com article:
http://www.cracked.com/article_15643_5-scientific-reasons-zombie-apocalypse-could-actually-happen_p2.html
My friends I used to often joke about how we'd all have to find our partners among our group, so that we can all survive the zombie apocalypse(which we guarantee was totally gonna happen). I find your article both enlightening and ironic considering that it reminds me of fourteen-year-old me's morbid fascination with dead and human beings ultimate self-deterioration in world that won't take care of anyone but itself...Anyways, great article!
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