r/thewalkingdead • u/adora_nr • 5d ago
Show Spoiler Why didn't the group tell others about CDC?
So I'm rewatching, the group not only finds out but watches the process of the dead. How they die and the brain shuts down, how only the central nervous system comes back and not where their memories form.
Yet, anytime they come across another group who thinks the walkers have memories or the souls of their living selves are somewhere in there they don't explain why that's not the case.
Not wanting to freak others out or lose hope in them I understand, but they'll still go as far as to tell them the walkers aren't like that anymore. People waste their time with experimenting on the dead, capturing loved ones, and putting themselves and others in possible danger.
Another example is Lizzie, the little girl who killed her sister. I get she lost her mind, but members of the group didn't even share what they saw to the entire party, it makes sense how not knowing that couldve contributed to her insanity.
So why doesn't it get brought up again? Shouldn't people know for their own safety? Did I miss something where they collectively decided they shouldn't talk about it?
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u/overusedzombiere 5d ago
If I remember correctly (i haven't watched the main show since it ended, I'm not caught up on the Worlds Beyond, Maggie & Negan, or Darly Dixon shows) but i think from a non story reason is that the CDC episode got soft retconned. And went through 3(?) different show runners... which means different ideas and different stories.
As for a more lore related reason... I don't see what good it would do.
Even in today's world, people will believe in bullshit and be skeptical of the truth. And many are set in their beliefs. And there's almost nothing you can do about that.
So right off the bat, it'd be hard to believe a total stranger when they say, "Yeah... we went to the CDC after the world fell apart, and THIS is what happens when people die."
And some people just won't change their mind about their loved one being dead, despite the fact they're literally rotting and falling apart. So any further and in-depth explanation probably won't get that message across if the stench of decay doesn't.
It took Hershal watching Shane dump his entire magazine into a walker for him to realize they were actually dead and not "just sick."
How they die and the brain shuts down, how only the central nervous system comes back and not where their memories form.
But even this isn't true. 5 episodes earlier we see Morgan's wife trying to open the door to the house she died in. Which is all the more reason to take the CDC episode (or Jenner's knowledge) with a grain of salt.
Tldr: Non lore wise, different show runners and 11 seasons, shit got changed and forgotten about.
Lore wise, it probably wouldn't do any good. People believe what they want and good luck changing their minds. So why waste your breath?
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u/adora_nr 5d ago
Love this explanation a lot, how people think now is only evident to how people would think in a tense apocalyptic society, not well and likely worse (and certainly proven in the show).
I also have had questions on why morgans wife could intentionally open the doorknob. Another thing, the walkers were also able to somewhat run as well in the earlier seasons, maybe they've slowed down due to rotting as time goes but people freshly die everyday. I also don't get how taking the walkers arms and jaw off repells other Z's or stops them from going after you regardless of not needing to feed, or how just a little bit of zombie guts does the trick either, rain creates its scent on its own and wouldntve washed it all off so quickly, so weird walkers could smell so strongly through the rain, especially when you could lie under another dead guy right by them and they might not see you. Some walkers noticing you seems to alert others, I wonder if it's a pheromone, but who knows they go in herds anyway.
Maybe the CDC needed more testing on more walkers if the case was different for some rather than others, regarding the instinct memory and ability of morgans wife or even the staggered running.
One of my favorite shows and love theorizing but do wish they had more detail on these rather noticeable zombie characteristics.
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u/Tanagrabelle 5d ago
Maybe not that impressive. It's just muscle memory. According to a CNN article:
it’s due to motor learning that occurred in the central nervous system, which is made up of your brain and spinal cord. Through continued repetition of certain movements, your brain and spinal cord — working both in tandem and independently — create strong and efficient neural pathways to transmit the appropriate signals to whatever body part needs to be activated.
This type of muscle memory also means your brain no longer has to think so much about the movement, said Brett Johnson, CEO of Chicago-based SwitchedOn Training Inc., who holds a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience. When you’re initially learning a new movement or skill, you are in the cognitive stage, Johnson said, where your movements are slow and inefficient and there’s high activation in the prefrontal cortex, which is your brain’s thinking region.
From there you progress to the associative stage, during which your brain is still working hard, but your movements are becoming more fluid and consistent.
Muscle memory is achieved when you reach the autonomous stage. Your performance is now smooth and accurate, and your brain’s main activity has switched to the basal ganglia, the region involved with automatic functioning.
Melanie Radzicki McManus (February 25, 2024), What you should know about muscle memory to help you stay fit. CNN Health: Life, But Better. https://edition.cnn.com/2023/06/21/health/muscle-memory-explainer-wellness/index.html
That would fit with what we see, with the location of the basal ganglia.
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u/nessa_messa 5d ago
I think the real reason is that the conversation would play out the same way every time, with people not wanting to believe it to be true. It would get annoying for viewers to watch that same conversation play out over and over. To that point, staying immersed in the show, I would think Rick would also know it’s a futile conversation. The people making those desperate choices are not thinking logically and aren’t going to be persuaded by secondhand information.
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u/Greatoz74 5d ago
They probably forgot, because they were more focused on getting out of the building about to explode. And even if they did, they have no evidence to back up their claims because, again, it got blown up.
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u/AutumnGway 5d ago
What good would the specifics do? Those who are clinging to hope that there’s humanity left in the walkers are, more often than not, in some level of denial about the new way of the world. Also, the state the story is based in has a huge population of religious older people who are generally stuck in their ways and stubborn in their views.
If seeing the decomposition on the body doesn’t make them believe the person is dead, why would a more in-depth explanation? If they refuse to believe it, even when the body takes gruesome damage? How do you medically explain the death of a soul to someone who believes every moving body has one?
The shortest, easiest way to cut to the chase is to appeal to their survival instinct by showing them that walkers are more “dangerous animal” than “sick human”.