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Zombie Effect: The Devolution of the Human Species

By Randy Gonzalez

Regressively and counter-productively, what appears to be happening, and suggested

by some researchers, human beings don’t seem to be doing very well. That is, counting
all human beings as a species, we’re not evolving into a more advanced coherent, highly
intelligent and communally cohesive species. From a global view, we appear to be
backsliding. Sure, there are notable examples of brilliant individuals. Yet, that’s a tiny
group of people working very hard to change themselves and their surroundings. When
taking a long observation of history, from the dawn of creation and until now, a good
question might be, are human beings facing a de-evolution possibility.
Along with that, consider the constant metaphorical references to a “zombie
apocalypse”. As used by various public and private organizations, the “zombie effect”
challenges the post-modern description of how people behave as individuals. Not only do
we act “stupidly” from an individual basis, but also toward each other and within
communal associations and societal organizations. By “stupid” as used here, humans
appear to be less insightful, not very creative and consistently illogical in applied areas of
critical thinking. Acting “stupid” suggests being unwise, thoughtless and irresponsible in
private and public conduct. Silly, foolish and ridiculous come to mind too.
One could say, as suggested by some contemporary allegations of a so-called civilized
world, people should be evolving past violent, selfish and larcenous behaviors. On the
contrary, with some exceptions, we don’t appear to be changing very much in terms of
basic human nature. As such, the self-centeredness of violence and thievery include all
manner of illicit activities contrived and executed by individuals, organizations,
governments and so on. Well, in that regard, what does the available data say? Okay,
taking a small glance of some of the selected research could be helpful.
Take the 20th century for instance, according to one researcher, it was the most violent
and most theft ridden hundred years in comparison with previous centuries. That included
major world wars, contrived social disorder by tyrants, premeditated killings of all kinds,
and so-called “police actions”. And, if using the F.B.I.’s Uniform Crime Reporting
system, compare the decades from 1900 to 1999.
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In the U.S., while violent crimes like murder have decreased over the past fifty years,
larcenous behaviors of all types have increased. Well, that’s progress. We’ve decided to
control our thrill for the kill by stealing. Multimedia deceptions assert in the pretext of
progress in overshadowing the reality of “zombie-like” social disintegration. And, within
the typical organizational structure, one can observe similar tendencies by which most
participants are excessively dependent on the group. They generally need this fixation on
associational acceptance to feel “valued” in their subjective validation.
In the contrived collusive collectivism, the majority are typically motivated to
empower their weaknesses in the simple-minded inclusiveness of conformity. Passive-
aggressive, fearful and anxious, steeped in illogical assumptions, the crowd tends to
punish the few outspoken ones who prefer facts instead of fantasy. Among the group
adherents, independence, individuality and innovation are often stifled by narrow-minded
insistence on submission and obedience to the status quo. Why change? If one or more
persons use power to intimidate, control and dominate others, higher levels of thinking
can be contained and discouraged. The majority acquiesce out of fear. Think about the
reckless, injudicious and nonsensical interactions you hear about daily.
Does anything people do throughout the world really come as surprise? Consistency in
compliance with the mutual accord of personal substantiation serves to give unreal
animation to a range of emotionally obsessive desires. To influence the weaker ones to
stifle critical thinking processes, and make stagnant investigative skill sets, entire
populations can be stage-managed. No matter what the evidence shows, in spite of the
proofs, we’ll simply believe anything we want to believe. Most people willingly submit
and allow their own seduction for the sake of self-gratification.
Most are unaware of hidden agendas that hide behind illusory cover stories. As such,
human devolution continues its ravenous raging with insidious disrespect for logic,
reason and rationality. Myth, magic and metaphor conspire to escape the societal
obligations for civility, discipline, duty and truth. From a myriad of fallacies of inference,
which lead to hasty generalizations and specious conclusions, organizational and
communal decision-making devolves into a mire of counter-evolutionary processes. In
fact, it’s not decision-making at all. No, instead, the realm of the shared structural co-op
usually relishes in mediocrity of simplicity in subservience.
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Meanwhile, meekness signals docility while deference pays homage to the so-called
“expert”. Again, the con games run rampant. Conformity willfully appeals to the
illegitimate authority of compliance at any cost. And this is done for the sake of
belonging to the group or the “herd”. Why be different? Why question anything? Such
actions require hard work in the profound search within the depths of serious
introspective thought. In the devolution or de-evolution, whatever you wish to call it, the
human species does not appear to be ascending. On the contrary, global perspectives
suggest just the opposite. Naturally, there are exceptions, as some work hard to transform
themselves and prevail to evolve in their life-long quest for liberation. A few realize that
no matter what their situation, they can strive to thrive no matter what.
By contrast to an elite few, however, the rest act out various phases of a “zombie-
effect”, or grotesque self-indulgent satiation of an abject nature. At the same time, they
ignite a “zombie-apocalypse”, which allegorically refers to the devolution of the human
race. Their “cannibalism”, or gross gluttonous consumerism for immediate gratification,
as well as neglect of higher states of consciousness, contrives social decline. Yes, it’s a
symbolic reference for acting stupid, self-seeking and nonproductive within the social
context with collective “tolerance”. Meanwhile, the demise of the human species on its
current course projects real probabilities for downfall and maybe extinction.
In response, what do the few do? Or, for that matter, what do the guardians do to
safeguard and enforce safety and security for the few who strive to evolve? They simply
do the best they can with what they have and the time they’re given. Law enforcement
and the military no doubt have been infiltrated and infected with the dim-witted aspects
of politicians, pundits and political processes. Criminal justice systems and subsystems
face absurd and asinine fights daily, in which their battles often come from within.
None the less, in their ranks, there are a few brave men and women who stand their
ground, do their best and perform valiantly. They heroically persevere in their
differentiation from the herded masses, and assert their zealousness to rise above the
mundane and the superficial. Within their organizations, they resist the temptations of the
devaluation of individuality. Instead, they never stop learning, training or enhancing the
capacity for differentiation of selfless ness. Likewise, in commerce, science and industry
a few others endeavor to be creative innovators in similar fashion.
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Security forces are potentially over-whelmed by widespread stupidity of authority.

Fueled by a “hunger” never quenched with over-fed political egos, mismanaged
budgetary processes, and bloated social appetites for gross materialism and status, human
social systems are dangerously weakened. Hyper intellectual vigilance, supported by
proactive individualization in personal self-defense countermeasures, has become critical
for those who labor better versions of their original selves. For those who seek
immunization from willful cognitive robotic degeneration, the “anti-virus” comes in the
form of courageous self-reliance and spirited resistance.
To assert freedom toward perfecting distinctive personalized individualism, infused
with integrity, accountability and responsibility, arduous efforts demand sacrifices. Yet,
for multitudes of the people out there in zombie-land, many will not risk any semblance
of a sacrifice. That is of course, unless it is at the expense of someone else. Needless to
say, countless numbers of us will continue their self-indulgent mode of personal
deception in behavioral foolishness. In their devolution, emotions, desires and feelings
willfully trump virtuous sanctification for enlightened rationality.
Rest of assured instead, people greedily foment dangerous ideations that invite
mystical fallacies lathered in selfish thinking for personal gain. As usual, motivations
remain tainted by the instigations of pride, envy, anger, arrogance, revenge and other
similar manifestations from our past centuries. In ongoing investigative efforts, some
remind us as to the productive historic influences that humans have had all over the
planet. Through the unique assertion of intelligence, skill and foresight, some visionaries
have heretofore created exceptional innovations. But, that was then.
By premeditation in self-absorbed vanity, stupidity and conformity, people crave any
options to satisfy the pleasures of contrived hedonistic needs. At the same time, being
irrational, prejudiced and unintelligent has seemingly become fashionable. Pop culture, in
the promotion of superficial celebrity status, relishes in the shock and awe of uninhibited
mediocrity for mundane, trivial and simplistic distractions. With a serious lack of
strenuously healthy psycho-physical fitness efforts and energetically imaginative
innovative pursuits, “zombification” infects the societal spectrum. Within this scope of
collective communal and institutional interactivity, a majority will lack the ability to
think effectively and ensure productive problem solving capabilities.
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As one peers into the mirror of their own reflection, they cringe at the prospect of
being like the other person. Ostensibly, no one likes the idea of being infected with the
walking dead darkness of human nature. That duality of good and evil threatens to teeter
from the delicate balance in favor of more primordial inclinations. As such, most want to
avoid any error of misidentification with another, and so a person enjoys the thrill of
feasting the other person’s misfortunes and stupidity in action. Through subtle and overt
means foolishly confabulated, people play the role of acting dumb. As Narcissus fixates
upon the reflected self-image, a faint echo reminds us of our vanity in futility.
Unfortunately, like the rest of the human body, you either exercise your full potential
or the component parts atrophy over time or eventually decompose. Intellectually,
physically and spiritually, one must transform exceptionally. Yet, performing to what
some call the “lowest common denominator”, we can observe how “dumbing down”
plays a detrimental role igniting the “zombie effect” or devolution of the public.
Education, politics, movie making and news reporting follow contrived simplistic
templates so the “lowest common denominator” can comprehend at least minimally.
As for the wise, prudent and valiant, he or she knows you must survive to thrive,
overcome yourself and ascend higher spheres of thought. Regardless though, we are all
potentially seduced by the darkness of our dull witted conceit. Temptations for mindless
subservience are everywhere. Sometimes, even among those who know better, the
psycho-babble comes across as “scientific”, even when the superficiality of such is barely
“pseudo-science”. Take for example, from the field of criminology, the illusion of
criminal profiling, as though one could really “get inside” the criminal mind.
Do you really think you can fully comprehend, with definitive specificity, the depth
and reaches of the dreamscape in shadowy unconscious realms? Aside from that, suffice
it to say the whole gambit of “why explanations” for criminality is rife with one-
dimensional theoretical constructs. On a grander scale though, take the breakdown in
human thinking to a global scheme. Suppose the freakish nature of obsessive titillations
in religious extremism desires to take “mind control” beyond the Manchurian candidate
fantasy. Let’s say a biologic contagion is unleashed. As the spread of contaminated
cerebral degeneration grows from local infection to regional pollution, social systems
collapse. Panic ensues in similar ways as already experienced by natural disasters.
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With bioterrorism for instance, or for that matter, any other type of international
calamity, essential services disintegrate very quickly. In a very short period of time, those
uninfected become prey for the “zombified hunters” who are infected by their own
manufactured madness. As deterioration continues, defensive countermeasures
breakdown and communal collectivism devolves to baser levels of primeval survival.
With public services over-whelmed, food supplies diminished, water systems dried up,
transportation routes shut down, and shelters are over-crowded, anarchy surfaces.
Compound the complexity of a catastrophe with human stupidity.
There’s no guarantee in any community disruption that people will behave in humane
and civil ways. Okay, just stop and look around you. Think about past and present
incidents of significant proportion that affected large numbers of people. Consider the
fear generated by the press and politicians over something local that became international
over-night. Don’t forget, seemingly smart people are fully capable of performing
stupidly. Since a few studies suggest that the population is more than sixty percent obese,
whereas fat negatively affects the brain cells, most people are out of shape both mentally
and physically. As such, many are ill-equipped to deal with any crisis situation.
Forget the terrorist scenario for a moment, despite the fact that is a very real
probability. Now ponder the historical references of medical epidemiologists’ research.
Every hundred years or so, a newer form of an epidemic appears and produces
catastrophic results for human population groups. The black death of the fourteenth
century killed nearly sixty percent of the European population. After World War I, a flu
pandemic spread over the globe and killed forty million people. Imagine the societal
crisis, the human downfall and the infectious nature of illness.
As to the so-called walking dead, movies have their unique way of expressing the
abject debaucheries of human beings. While screenwriters can be quite imaginative and
creative, the real world is much more devious and dangerous. Nevertheless, the reality of
a devolving world seems much closer to reality than many would admit. As the dead that
walk, ancient prophecies have asserted a decaying existence whereby humans behave
heinously toward each other. Hateful rebelliousness against lawful government authority,
normal social conventions and racial diversity, among other deteriorating conditions,
portend a frightful persistence in human regression.
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With regard to the allegory of mythical foretelling, there could be “plagues” that bring
about the strange nature and occurrence of the “walking dead”? Whatever the symbolic
intentions, one might conclude social upheaval is very real. This means you have to be
alert, prepared and ready to deal with disastrous outbreaks. Depending on the
interpretations you accept in your beliefs, the storytelling provides behavioral warnings.
It concerns the mysterious horrors of a “flesh consuming” existence, symbolically
speaking more or less, that depict the grotesque lawlessness and selfishness of
humankind. Also, such notions reflect a degeneration of communal collaboration
whereby one fights another in various forms of unlawful conflict.
Still one wonders, as some might ask prophetically, why do you look for the “living
among the dead”? Maybe you shouldn’t be standing inside a “tomb” when you ask that
question. Anyway, does it really matter whether the “sea gives up the dead” or you
encounter early in the morning the “day of the dead”? Perhaps the night before, you
discovered the evening of the dead. When people decide they are going to act stupid,
there are no limits to the heinous and terrifying things they can do to each other.
Selfishness has boundaries contained only by one’s imagination.
Evil is within that region of fantasy that finds a psychic portal into reality. Short cuts
to circumvent creative and pro-social thinking that accept faulty generalizations; so that
one permits the devaluation of intellectual ascendency perpetrates toxic thoughtlessness.
While a few aspire to be enlightened, evolved and differentiated from the hordes, the vast
majority remain sheepishly content in varying degrees for the mundane, the superficial
and the irresponsible. Many people across the globe are too self-absorbed in amative
choices of personal pursuit for their own continuous self-importance. As a consequence,
they don’t pay attention to the necessity of individual transformation.
Simplemindedness by purposeful design relegates existence to the irrationality of
collusive collectivism for communal devolution. Appeals to fallacies of inference negate
the necessity of evidentiary authenticity. While the outer mask pretends a public display,
the inner realms manufacture the deviousness of private proclivities. For the time being,
awareness should be given to the ruthlessness by which people will endeavor to get their
way. Foolish, discourteous, condescending and unlawfully aggressive behaviors infiltrate
every level of society, from the classroom to the boardroom.
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Individually, one must seek to transcend and transform their own psycho-physical
journey in the energetic liberation of their own mind, body and spiritual essence. Personal
self-defense measures and crucial planning processes and strategies for social survival are
critically necessary under present conditions. In the consideration of significant human
devolution, where only few endeavor to self-evolve provokes communal pressures of
potentially disastrous proportions. As some would assert, life in a “type zero” civilization
is on the brink of either transforming to a higher level, or degenerating to primordial self-
destructiveness. This doesn’t mean some aren’t trying, but suggests most don’t want to
change and will be a problem of the others. It’s still a very dangerous world.
Human nature still indulges in the savagery of its own self-proclaimed darkness.
Sometimes, you don’t readily see it, because the mask of myriad disguises is mirrored in
so many illusions. Deceptions amatively inspire plots, schemes and scams throughout
societal connections all over the planet. In the duality of good and evil, the malevolent
appetites will always be unleashed for the immediate satiation of self-interests. We still
relish in the rituals of myth, magic and metaphor for the promulgation of our desires for
extreme beliefs in fundamental dogmatic simplicities.
Calculated into this caldron of willful selfishness comes the deadly probabilities for
implementation of horribly drastic means. Nuclear, biologic and chemical weapons
systems possess extraordinary potency to terminate life with global implications. And
yet, for most people, piggishness consumption and blissful ignorance contrive to ignore
harsh realities. From the self-seeking rapaciousness of many, world-wide criminality for
instance, with many aspects, upper and lower levels, and collusive intricacies, manifest
social disintegration. Hedonistic greediness cultivates devolutionary excesses.
Likewise, whenever emotionalism trumps rationality, and sensationalism overshadows
investigative analysis, anti-social-narcissistic tendencies are encouraged. Nearly everyone
shares to some degree counterproductive antagonistic “social pathologies”.
Metaphorically speaking and analogous to the imagery of biologic pathogens, which
means self-induced “mind viruses”. As such, divisive permissiveness, where personal
boundaries are constantly violated, accepts abusive actions toward others. Psycho-
physical regression in individuals, on the impact on neighborhoods and workplace
structures, set the stage for continued manifestation of the “zombie apocalypse”.