Resolved: the Zombie Apocalypse Will Happen

Thanks to Pro for his wonderfully written (and neat) arguments, and now, I present.... *drumroll* REBUTTALS!!! >Disease Traits Con argues that a zombie disease can transmit and manifest most likely by a virus, claiming we can manipulate viruses already and they have high infectability rates. In this way, the "zombie virus" will be spread, making the zombie apocalypse possible. However, I believe this can not be so. The definition of zombie clearly states that zombies are dead, and viruses can only take over living organisms. Also, viruses can reproduce if and only if they have a living host, which zombies are not. http://faculty.clintoncc.suny.edu... Once an organism dies, the virus ceases to reproduce anymore, meaning there can be no zombies. While a human is alive, however, they could display zombie-like traits, but that wouldn't fit the definition of a zombie. >Evolutionary Drive & Consciousness (Or lack thereof) My opponent claims that biting would be a good way to transmit the "zombie virus." On the contrary, (if we are to assume as of right now that a virus could survive and reproduce in dead bodies) biting is actually a terrible way to transmit a disease. Using common sense, let's look at this following scenario on a completely hypothetical mindset-- Pretend for a few minutes that you, the reader of this, are completely fit, and you work out every day instead of staying in front of your computer 24/7. Now, imagine that you walk outside, and you live somewhat in the woods. First, I want you to try to find an animal, whatever the size. (Squirrels would probably be most common, so let's assume you find a squirrel.) Now, I want you to try to catch the animal you just found, and attempt to take a bite out of it. Thank you, readers, for participating! :D Do you think that it was very likely for you, even being really fit, to take a bite out of that animal? Even if it were something larger than a squirrel and couldn't climb, do you honestly believe that you can catch it in the first place? No? That's how we are to zombies. Now, think again, if you actually did somehow manage to catch the animal you found, how likely do you think it was for you to actually take a bite out of it (disregarding germs and a mouthful of fur)? Most likely, any animal that you catch, if it's not a cat or a dog, it will struggle when you hold it, and will struggle against you even more when you lean in to chomp on its face. That's how most humans would react in regard to a zombie trying to eat your face off. On top of that, humans have weapons that animals in the wild don't have. In fact, 62% of Americans have more than one gun in their household, http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com... which makes it even more unlikely for a "zombie" to get close enough to even touch a human, let alone bite. Add that to the fact that they are rotting and most like smell really bad.... How many people would let something like that get near them? >Zombie's Survival Capabilities: Pro states that a zombie's immunity to pain and lack of consciousness would be a factor in favor of the zombie apocalypse, but I highly disagree. If a zombie were to be immune to pain and stumble around with no purpose but to bite humans' faces off and pass on the zombie-ism, there would be many things wrong with this picture, and many reasons why this is actually bad for the zombies. We feel pain because that's our bodies' way of saying, "Hey, damaged goods, do not use!" That way we can fully heal ourselves before starting to use that body part again. However, there is a disease called congenital analgesia, where you physically cannot feel any pain. http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov... This isn't good for them, because they have a higher chance of dying. Likewise, if zombies can't feel any pain, they would just run down their bodies until they physically can't move anymore because all of their body parts are broken and they can walk or crawl or even drag themselves anywhere. >Summary of a viral zombie outbreak From what I just rebutted, you can clearly tell from my first point that this would not work. However, just to fully touch all of Pro's points, I also refuted the other parts of his points for in case he has a really really good comeback as to why it actually would work. Also, I didn't want all that good typing to go to waste, so I tried doing it justice by refuting it the best I could. LOL. Pro states that being brain dead would fit the definition of zombie. But this is not true, because the definition of brain-dead is "irreversible brain damage causing the end of independent respiration," meaning they are still technically alive. http://www.google.com... >Reanimation & Lack of Immune Response Erm *running out of time* I actually kind of agree with this one, after skimming over it, so i guess i just won't touch it. >Military Not necessary.... sufficient people in America have guns to prevent a zombie apocalypse. In fact think of the south, where just about everyone has a gun to hunt with or to just shoot targets with. >Infrastructure, Fear My opponent claims that it would be disastrous for society if there were no one to maintain these operations.... however, there have been many times where there were blackouts and no one could fix it for days at a time. Sure, people had a hard time, but no one died from lack of electricity, they died from heat. No one died from not having running water, they died from not stocking up on water. No one died from lack of waste disposal. I could on and on.... The point is, people will rise up to the occasion if need be, and they will survive even if it does mean it's somewhat inconvenient. Pro also claims that fear would cause disorganisation. Yes, it does, but just because something is disorganized doesn't mean that it would be considered an apocalypse. Disorganized: functioning without adequate order, systemization, or planning; uncoordinated. http://dictionary.reference.com... As you can tell, that is clearly not mass destruction.... >Conclusion I believe I have fully refuted all but one of Con's arguments, due to lack of time. (Sorry!!! I'll try to procrastinate less next time lol) There will be no zombie apocalypse, so chill out, relax, and do whatever you want because we're not going to die from a fiction story.... Over to Pro, good luck!!! ^_^