ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE ERROR #2
A piece of questionable strategic advice given by Max Brooks in Zombie Survival Guide was previously covered (see: Contradictions That Can Kill), but some aspects of Brooks’ scientific explanation for Zombies seem to represent an even greater error. At the root of the problem is his 
assertion that Zombies have no physical feeling, made on page 9:
“Zombies have, literally, no physical sensations. All nerve receptors throughout the body remain dead after reanimation. This is truly their greatest and most terrifying advantage over the living.”
It’s widely accepted that Zombies do not display defensive reflexes – if you take a swing at one with the business end of a shovel it will not duck out of the way – but this belief provides absolutely no basis for concluding that they don’t have physical sensation. Even a lack of expression of pain – a Zombie on fire doesn’t seem to particularly mind that its on fire – does nothing to advance the argument. In fact, the error of Brooks’ claim can be summed up in very simple terms: If you cannot feel the ground you’re walking on, then you cannot walk.
Ask any quadriplegic if his inability to feel anything in his extremities is a great physical advantage over full-functioning people. A Zombie with “literally no physical sensation” would be similarly bound by its lack of mobility. Far from terrifying, this creature could do little more than lie on the ground and moan in your general direction (see: The Theory of Zombie Paralysis).
I have to admit that I feel conflicted about pointing out contradictions and errors in The Zombie Survival Guide. I have great respect for the book, and for Max Brooks as a man. At the time of its 2003 publication, I think it represented the height of Zombie knowledge and research, and it played a big part in the formation of the Zombie Research Society. But wrong is wrong. Even worse, when it comes to Zombies wrong is all-too-often dead wrong.
Yeah, it’s like a couple of times I’ve woken up in the middle of the night and freaked out because i couldn’t move one of my arms at all, because i had slept on it wrong. So basically my entire arm was asleep and couldn’t use it at all… It’s exactly the same when you get Novocain in your mouth, and you slur your speech. I agree completely and it’s more than likely that they have feeling but have no ability to receive pain.
I would say it’s more a question of the loss of pain receptors.
I worked at a pizza place for years, and almost all of the guys working there on the ovens inevitably after a year or so of working there would either lose all feeling in their fingertips or have severely diminished sensations in their fingertips because they’d burnt them so many times. This didn’t mean they couldn’t use their fingers to the full extent.
There are also, rare instances of humans who are born without the ability to perceive pain. Their senses are all fully intact, except they feel no pain.
My own grandmother after her stroke was capable of using her hands to some extent, but at one point put her hand in a frying pan that was hot while talking to my sister, and had no idea she’d done it, she felt no pain from the action.
Diminished sensation does not automatically equate with diminished pain perception, although they are definitely linked.
Caitlin – great point! But remember that Brooks’ assertion is that Zombies have absolutely NO feeling, not that they just don’t feel pain. “No physical sensation at all.”
I would argue that being able to use your hand when you have reduced sensation in your fingertips (like your Pizza bakers) is like walking around with the tips of your toes asleep. Normal, reasonable, and not hard to do. But imagine if both of your legs are completely asleep. You wouldn’t be able to walk at all.
If don’t disagree that Zombies don’t feel pain – or at least don’t acknowledge the pain – but to say they can’t feel ANYTHING just doesn’t make logical sense to me.
I suggest you look into neuropathy, diabetic or peripheral. This is a condition where the nerves die off and the extremities. I have lost most of the feeling in my legs and feet and will eventually lose all feeling do to diabetes. Others have lost complete feeling and can still walk as I currently do. I will be sure to update you when I have lost total feeling in my feet so I can attest to it first hand.
Hi Patrick. Great comment. Check out my response in the post:
NEUROPATHY DOESN’T EXPLAIN ERROR
I’d like to point out that it is entirely possible that a zombie’s sensory neurons are all dead and its motor neurons are not. The two are slightly different in structure, particularly at the actual sensory receptors. However, I agree that there’s no particular reason for assuming this to be the case and it likely varies from zombie virus to zombie virus.
Good point, Bauglir. But even though the sensory and motor neurons are not (necessarily) dependent on one another, can you give me an example in known science of a person (or animal) who can walk with NO physical sensation? Meaning: if they can’t actually SEE the ground they have no way of knowing if it is rising or falling, right at their feet or 5 miles below them, etc.
There are examples of people who don’t feel pain (break their arms and have no idea, etc) but they still feel the ground at their feet – it just doesn’t hurt them when they are injured. That’s more in line with Zombie functionality it seems to me.
No, I really can’t. I do agree with you that it’s staggeringly unlikely that sensory neurons would cease functioning while motor neurons would continue, and it does sound more probable that only pain receptors are degraded (which is entirely possible, since if I recall correctly they’re closer to the surface and a body rotting from the outside in would lose them first).
More or less, I just meant to point out that paralysis isn’t necessarily the result of a zombie with no ability to feel anything; random flailing about, while only slightly more threatening, is also a possibility if the zombie virus happens to be selective about what kind of neuron it attacks. Ultimately, though, I agree with the gist of the post, which seems to be that zombies are, in fact, capable of sensing their surroundings in ways other than sight and hearing (and maybe smell/taste, depending).