Zombie Cliche Lookout: Brutal Solutions
I don’t know if it’s our inherent desire for efficiency, laziness, or something else entirely, but people crave easy solutions. Often, these make sense. After all, Occam’s Razor tells us that, absent the ability for one hypothesis to better predict an outcome, the simplest solution is the most likely. People being people, we have a tendency to apply this bit of wisdom far beyond where it is most applicable, ignoring that clause about predictive ability and instead focusing on whatever solution is the simplest.
Naturally, this inclination shows up frequently in zombie apocalypses. After all, when you’re fighting desperately for survival against hordes of the walking dead, some expediency in your decision making can be a life saver. Naturally, people can carry that too far, and start justifying all sort of horrific things on the fact that they are the least complex solution to a problem.
I think it’s important to remember that, as lovely as simple, concise solutions are, there simply isn’t one available for every problem. That’s unfortunate, but it’s also reality. The quicker characters can adapt to reality, as opposed to “the way things ought to be”, the more likely it is that they’ll survive. I suppose that’s true in real life too. It’s almost like zombie survival stories are microcosms of the real world.
About this Episode:
I considered adding in a sound effect for Tara snatching that gun away from her dad, but I thought it would look kind of silly. So I put it in the hover text instead. You’re welcome.
Discussion Question: What’s the Deal with Tara’s Dad?
I’m hewing close to the plot of the episode with today’s discussion question. What do you guys think is going on with Tara and her dad? Is one taking care of and protecting the other?
I don’t know that people necessarily like simple solutions. We all know people who try their hardest to overcomplicate things (we may even do it ourselves). I think what’s really happening is that when people feel helpless or lost, they will seek ANY solution just to have one and feel a sense of control and progress (and hope).
We see this often in politics, when one side offers all sorts of reasons why a particular measure would be a bad idea in theory, and that measure’s proponents answer with, “Well, we have to do SOMEthing!” (or words to that effect). It doesn’t matter if it’s a demonstrably bad idea. It doesn’t matter if it’s failed before. It doesn’t matter if there’s some key component they’re overlooking. The sense that “something” must be done can be seductive to people who cannot accept some aspect of their reality, but can’t really see a good way to a desireable outcome.
In billiards, we call that the “poke ‘n’ hope.”
All excellent points, which makes me think that both are true. We seek out simplistic solutions to complex problem (e.g. Bomb Iran), but we also overcomplicate relatively simple things for a variety of reasons. People are weird.
To me it seems Tara is the one keeping her dad safe, since he appears to be a little nuts, in all honesty.
Maybe so, maybe so.
Occam’s Razor: The neverending search for the razor with the simplest and most practical blade profile and head shape with which to shave one’s hair off! 😀 It should be noted, that like the blade manufacturers, most men never actually go for the simplest blade design, they go for some overcomplicated blade that promises everything they think they want in a razor! 😀
*one’s facial hair – my bad, but you get the gist of my post anyway! 😀
I leave my facial hair, but shave the hair on my head.
Hah, right you are. I use one of those ludicrous 5-bladed razors.
Typo alert, Zombie Cliche Lookout, third paragraph, first sentence, after the first comma: “as lovely as simply, concise” simply–>simple 😀
Fixed
As to what’s going on with Tara and her dad, I think it’s a bit of both: Tara is trying to protect him from his own age-induced displeasure towards strangers new to his group , and he’s trying to protect her from the zombies by doing what he can to keep things quiet around the place! 😀
I like that; they’re looking out for each other using their own abilities to do so.
Wrong? There is nothing wrong with zombie lego world Stan Lee. He is just a bit bitter he can’t turn into the hulk anymore and taking out on the new guy.
Other than his Albert Einstein hair you mean? must be hard to get “product” in the ZA.
I think its probably him being overprotective toward his daughter. Im usually the first to wax on about how we need to maintain our humanity in the face of a crisis like this, but if it comes down to leaving a stranger our in the cold or increasing the danger my children are in by any measureable degree, then I’m probably gonna leave him out there.
Tara’s dad probably feels like she is being too kindhearted and hes stepping in to deal with it before the younger, stronger, stranger becomes a direct threat, leads more zeds to them, or consumes precious supplies.
I predicted earlier that Tara was the person in need of protection, the way she let Sam come in was, to me, a sign of over confidence in others. But maybe, I was wrong, and I now think that Granpa, might be the one in need of special cares.