The Disaster Myth

The zombie genre reached new heights with The Walking Dead. It has brought hordes of new fans in and made the zombie, king of the monsters. Our friends and coworkers can now be overheard discussing the "what ifs" of a zombie outbreak.

It seems everyone has a zombie apocalypse plan. This would be all positive were it not for the very particular outlook on humanity The Walking Dead enforces. Disaster strikes, chaos ensues, humanity faces extinction and yet the greatest and most persistent threat in that world, is our neighbours.

This has never sat well with me. If we are to internalize The Walking Dead as some realistic portrayal of humanities reaction to disaster, then the state of nature for humanity is, "poor, nasty, brutish, and short." Rick and the gang we are told have what it takes to survive. They have a ruthless ability to put down by force those who get in the way. While I cannot necessarily disagree with the idea that life would be extremely difficult during a zombie apocalypse, or even with many of the actions taken by Rick and the gang, I do disagree with the world view this show reinforces.

Firstly, the idea that humans are inherently selfish during disasters is generally disregarded by academics that study disasters. Humans have the tendency to cooperate. We are social creatures and have evolved this way. This is not to say competition isn't commonplace. What I am concerned about, is that The Walking Dead will create a situation of so called self-fulfilling prophecy.

Millions of people view the program and many of those, consciously or not, absorb the show's philosophy and outlook on disaster. What happens during the next 2 week blackout? Do people hang out on the streets with their neighbours and see if anyone needs anything? Or, perhaps now they are more likely to assume the worst, horde food and hide away leaving the elderly and vulnerable to fend for themselves.

The truth is, everyone will react in the way they see fit. My hope, is that our first thoughts during a disaster will be to go with our social instincts and help those around us, not emulate some very entertaining television.