Timeline for Do zombies need oxygen in Walking Dead?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
13 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Mar 3, 2014 at 21:57 | comment | added | thomax | @terdon I have no problems with dead muscle tissue moving, so it seems we agree on this. My only point is this: A muscle cell which generates movement is, at least partly, functional. This, in turn, opens up some interesting possibilities with regards to other dead AND functional zombie cells. | |
| Mar 3, 2014 at 20:44 | comment | added | terdon | @thomax I beg to differ, my point is that dead muscle tissue is perfectly capable of moving (see the video in the biology.se question I linked to earlier). Therefore, it is you who are positing extraneous forces while I submit that muscle alone is sufficient. Despite being alive. If Popper doesn't get you, Occam will :) | |
| Mar 3, 2014 at 20:29 | comment | added | thomax | @terdon Nay, Popper is after you, good sir. I'd argue that a moving human body (dead or alive) is driven by muscles (dead or alive). If you, on the other hand, are suggesting an altogether different cause of human locomotion (which has nothing to do with jerking muscles) I'd be happy to hear. But you'd also be the one introducing a whole new toolbox for the explanation of zombie movement (evil negative energy? whats that?). And thus your innards are the ones on Poppers dinner plate, his saliva negating any need for further condiments :) | |
| Mar 3, 2014 at 20:22 | comment | added | terdon | @thomax because biology breaks down instantly in the presence of zombies, that's the problem. As soon as you start talking about dead cells, biology goes out the window and, at best, is replaced by chemistry. Since contacting muscles do not imply living cells, I see no reason why they would need oxygen. If the cells are functional while not being alive, they would presumably no longer be reliant on cellular respiration for their function and so would not need oxygen. | |
| Mar 3, 2014 at 20:18 | comment | added | thomax | @terdon I'm not arguing that zombie cells are alive. I'm arguing that some zombie cells are partly functional even though the cells are dead. Clearly, a jerking muscle cell is partly functional, even though it's dead. And, with some dead cells being partly functional, the same might be the case for other types of zombie cells, right? Say deficient chemo-receptors for smelling? Or a crazed hormone system prompting the body to wreak havoc? Indeed, why not use biology to explain as much of zombie physiology as we can? And turn to magic only if we must? | |
| Mar 3, 2014 at 20:06 | comment | added | terdon | @thomax lol :). Anyway, the onus would be on you to demonstrate that zombie movement actually involves contracting muscles, else you'll need to defend yourself from zombie Popper. | |
| Mar 3, 2014 at 20:00 | comment | added | thomax | @b_jonas You know that Karl Popper will rise from his grave and eat your innards every time you complicate a perfectly adequate theory with additional and indefinable variables, don't you? | |
| Mar 3, 2014 at 19:52 | comment | added | terdon | @thomax Functional != alive. For example, some plant's vessel elements are functional despite being dead cells. Since muscle cells can contract in the absence of an active metabolism, i.e. even when dead, the fact that zombies move is no indication that their cells are alive. In any case, zombies are dead by definition so I don't see how their cells could be alive. The whole idea is that zombies somehow animate dead tissue. | |
| Mar 3, 2014 at 19:50 | comment | added | b_jonas | Zombies don't use their muscles to move. Zombies are powered magically by evil negative energy. In this respect, they work the same way as skeletons, which are just zombies where most of the body is gone and only the bones remain, or ghosts which are like zombies where no parts of the body remains. | |
| Mar 3, 2014 at 19:42 | comment | added | thomax | Sure, zombie cells aren't neccessarily alive. However, a contracting muscle cell is fulfilling it's primary objective: generating movement. It doesn't matter if this movement is fueled by ATP, soy sauce or magic. It's hard to argue that a jerking muscle cell is not at least partly functional. | |
| Mar 3, 2014 at 19:30 | comment | added | terdon | @thomax actually, and I realize I'm being pedantic, muscle cells can contract even in dead tissue, a classic example is pouring soy sauce on a dead octopus. It is a matter of electricity and does not need any living cells. | |
| Mar 3, 2014 at 19:20 | comment | added | thomax | Agreed, zombie cells don't heal, but they can still be partly functional. Which was OPs point. And a pretty decent assumption, considering the fact that zombies move. Movement in humans is induced by contractions in muscle cells, thus zombies need at least partly functioning cells in order to move. | |
| Mar 3, 2014 at 18:44 | history | answered | terdon | CC BY-SA 3.0 |