AUCTORES
Globalize your Research
opinion
*Corresponding Author: Susan Weiner, Graduate School in Seventeenth-Century English History, UCLA, 1990-1993, incomplete PhD. Currently, Freelance Writer.
Citation: Susan Weiner, Brian Gould, (2024), The Logic of Zombies: An Experiential Account of Schizophrenia, J. Neuroscience and Neurological Surgery, 14(8); DOI:10.31579/2578-8868/338
Copyright: ©, 2024, Susan Weiner. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of The Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Received: 23 September 2024 | Accepted: 07 October 2024 | Published: 18 October 2024
Keywords:
Several months into a seven-month episode of psychosis, I stood in Utah before the undulating rock of a canyon bathed in muted colors of peach, red, and rust. I could see that the canyon was beautiful. And I sighed, knowing I would soon feel deep satisfaction and contentment while contemplating nature’s beauty. My heart rose in anticipation, but instead, I felt nothing, not one thing at all. I couldn’t have cared less. And I was perplexed. I registered that the colors of the canyon were exquisitely melded into one another. “What was happening,” I thought? I saw that the rock was twisted and carved by the forces of gravity and water. However, I had absolutely no emotional reaction to the marvel of the American Southwest. The deep cobalt-blue sky never said a word to me that day. In fact, wonder fled far away. The loneliness of the scene, just a rock wall and myself bordering a deep ravine that ran far away into the empty desert, stirred no melancholy in my heart. But I did marvel at my lack of aesthetic response, something I knew I usually felt keenly. In my opinion a lot of weird things had been happening to me for a while. This was just one more of the same. It was beginning to become disturbing.
In fact, I had never heard of anhedonia, nor did I have any idea that perception might sever its tie to emotion. Instead, an unusual thought occurred to me, “Zombies don’t feel pleasure either.” I knew from horror movies that zombies moved on autopilot, their only drive being to eat the sweet fruit of someone else’s brain. Who knows why such a peculiar image would occur to me out of the blue? Zombies were not something I usually spent a lot of time on. It’s notable that despite the horror which occurred to me, I never once considered that I was sick. It was not me who was weird; it was the world. Everything had gone topsy-turvy but that was the fault of the world. I had no part in it except to respond. Even despite the ever-increasing terror and perplexity of my situation, I never once thought to reach out for help. I never contacted my loved ones or any of my friends. In fact, I had cast them aside because I thought I was a deep-state spy. Instead, I continued to try to solve the puzzle of my new existence alone as I trudged back to my car with anxiety as my only friend. It was true to say that I was all alone with my thoughts, as frightening as they had become.
And then suddenly, as I left a supposedly stunning landscape behind, I made an uneasy syllogism. It went something like this: zombies didn’t feel pleasure. I no longer felt pleasure either. Obviously therefore, I was in danger of becoming a zombie. It was a faulty piece of reasoning, but it felt logical to me in a way that was enlightening and dramatic. I could still feel the deep satisfaction of systematic thinking if not the natural beauty of the earth. Though gravely ill, I continued to use my cognitive abilities to try to make sense of a new reality that had intruded on my mind. But though I reasoned, I didn’t recognize that I was committing a serious error in judgement. In this, I made a common mistake of conflating the referents, something I wouldn’t have done if sane or if possessed of any common sense. Yet don’t pundits deliberately engage in this very piece of deduction when promoting their candidates? Candidate X is of tenuous virtue. Criminals are not virtuous. Therefore, Candidate X is a criminal. Don’t vote for them. What was most broken in me was not my reasoning capacity, however poorly it operated. But what is well established is that the boundaries in my thinking between fiction and reality had shattered completely. My brain continued to operate logically, if in a faulty way, but my premises were nonsensical.
What starts this decay in the brain? This loosening of associations where I tied together the imaginary and the real as if the two were made of the same property? If sane, it would have been obviously clear to me that zombies and people weren’t similar in any way except in an imaginary world. But here what broke in me was the comprehension that some things were make-believe, while others were real. Strangely I still didn’t believe in ghosts, goblins, or ghouls. I knew they were storybook villains. I knew it without having to say so, without even needing to examine the proposition. But with this one piece of deduction, I automatically accepted that zombies existed (and I might soon be one of them) although I had never seen one outside of the movies.
How can this be? I can hardly understand it today. How could I have believed and uncritically accepted that I was in danger of becoming a blood-thirsty, drooling monster? Strangely I received this rationalization wholeheartedly, and it influenced my behavior going forward. I was so scared I locked myself in my car and drove as fast as I could, heading toward the East Coast, fleeing whatever malignant creature was trying to destroy me and my life as an independent, capable person. Of course, I didn’t want to become a zombie. I just wanted to go back to graduate school. But you don’t see many zombies with cap and gown or a PhD in hand. And graduate school was in California, not in West Virginia where I found myself a few days later. I was literally a few thousand miles away from my university and a million miles away from effective critical reasoning.
What does interest me, however, is that despite insanity my cognitive capacity remained foundationally intact. I didn’t babble incomprehensibly; I was not catatonic; I held normal conversations with people I met on the road. Instead, what might have appeared nonsensical to an outsider, came with what I felt was rigorous deductive thought. Although I did accept and engage in intellectual absurdity, I still possessed some type of rational capacity. In fact, I honestly believed I was fact-checking or assessing reality as astutely as I had ever done. I congratulated myself on rational thinking. I thought I was thinking more clearly than I had ever done and I patted myself on the back for it. In fact, I was calculating in a more detailed way than I had ever done before. That was probably the paranoia. I imagined a complex world of mind reading, political turmoil, dangerous criminals, and an existential threat for not only me but my country as well. Would zombies take over the world? In my head they just might. But no movie stars rode to my rescue.
For strangely, just because I considered it, I accepted that zombies were real creatures. I could no longer experience an aesthetic response to beauty of any kind. The only other being I knew of who shared this weird un-quality was no longer a make-believe monster. How could I accept that zombies existed and that I was engaged in my own private horror movie? It is astonishing. I was convinced zombies shuffled down the streets of the US and threatened to consume my soul. Yet I never felt anywhere I stayed was haunted. I never believed in the reality of ghosts. They remained solidly fictitious in my mind. The dichotomy of this surprises me.
Instead, other strange thoughts percolated in my brain. Someone was beaming thoughts into my head. An evil, demonic individual could use these thoughts to undermine the very substance of my physical body. It was a nightmare I dove into as if into a cold pool. Although the shock of it was terrible, I never questioned my logic or conclusions. When unusual assumptions came to me, I tried to examine them critically. And though I turned over my ideas for flaws, suddenly, zombies seemed more real to me than assenting to the proposition that my mother was my real parent (which I no longer believed). I had created a logically functioning and solidly reasoned world in my head that took several months to take shape. It was composed of high-tech innovations best described by science fiction; of villains who rivalled the world’s worst tyrants for cruelty and ambition; and of unexpected twists that came to me regularly like my supposed discovery of fiendishness in my brain.
But fiction and imagination peopled my reality with strange and crazy ideas. Logical premises continued to come to me, but they were based on illogical probabilities. Still, though I came to many more conclusions like this, for the life of me, I couldn’t draw logical inferences from external phenomena. If a leaf fell, instead of deciding that autumn was on the way, I believed it verified a thought that had just occurred to me. “People are reading your mind and talking to you through the radio,” I thought. And just then a leaf fell from a branch above me. This was enough for me to conclude that my reflection had been verified, and that the radio had much of value to communicate. So common sense gave way to paranoia and illogical thinking.
How did I ever come up with such an atypical understanding of reality, such as people were reading my mind or that the radio spoke to me alone of all the billions of people in the world? No one suggested it to me. I had never read about it in the paper. I had never started in fear of zombies in the dark. These thoughts came to me as if in a flash of light and when verified by my so-called reality testing (where a falling leaf stood in for truth), my thoughts were confirmed. In response to a falling leaf, I walked around day to day with a Walkman tuned to my favorite radio station because now I knew that people could read my mind and respond to me in kind. In this way I thought I received special orders as a spy, and I tried to protect myself from an enemy who could destroy my very soul. Many of the premises of my inferences were faulty. All my attempts to verify my conclusions were inane. Yet my brain continued to function as if logic mattered decisively and as if reason were the primary ground of my thinking. Reason was engaged fitfully but still deductively. And yet, it was all nonsense. But not in a way that was nonsense to me.
It seems what changed in me the most was that the boundary between fiction and the real world crumbled and broke into pieces. If I considered zombies, for some mysterious reason I accepted them uncritically as true. Some monsters were real; some remained fictitious. Who can tell me why? My whole life as I saw it had been based on a lie, and evil entities pursued me to torture me. Interestingly, these supposed insights came with emotional reverberations. They felt as if I had just experienced the satisfaction of solving a particularly difficult logical or mathematical proposition. Although I had anhedonia, when an idea or concept came to me, it was like a light shining in the darkness of schizophrenia. These conclusions seemed more real than any reality I had ever experienced. They hit me like a brick. They seemed to come from heaven with brightness all around them. In response, I put ideas together over the course of many months, reasoning from one unusual experience to the next. And in some ways because their reception in my mind was so dramatic, I wonder if I accepted the truth of them without credulity. My ideas were nonsensical: yet not to me. And in me, I believe they were made up of the building blocks of reason trying vainly to continue functioning when my premises were more ludicrous and worse than any horror movie’s allure for a teenage boy. So it may be that in schizophrenia reason continues long past when it really works. Though it appears so legitimate and real to the participant, it’s all but nonsense to everyone else. So, reason moves without reason. So, logic becomes a vehicle of fiction and irrationality blowing through the mind.
Clearly Auctoresonline and particularly Psychology and Mental Health Care Journal is dedicated to improving health care services for individuals and populations. The editorial boards' ability to efficiently recognize and share the global importance of health literacy with a variety of stakeholders. Auctoresonline publishing platform can be used to facilitate of optimal client-based services and should be added to health care professionals' repertoire of evidence-based health care resources.
Journal of Clinical Cardiology and Cardiovascular Intervention The submission and review process was adequate. However I think that the publication total value should have been enlightened in early fases. Thank you for all.
Journal of Women Health Care and Issues By the present mail, I want to say thank to you and tour colleagues for facilitating my published article. Specially thank you for the peer review process, support from the editorial office. I appreciate positively the quality of your journal.
Journal of Clinical Research and Reports I would be very delighted to submit my testimonial regarding the reviewer board and the editorial office. The reviewer board were accurate and helpful regarding any modifications for my manuscript. And the editorial office were very helpful and supportive in contacting and monitoring with any update and offering help. It was my pleasure to contribute with your promising Journal and I am looking forward for more collaboration.
We would like to thank the Journal of Thoracic Disease and Cardiothoracic Surgery because of the services they provided us for our articles. The peer-review process was done in a very excellent time manner, and the opinions of the reviewers helped us to improve our manuscript further. The editorial office had an outstanding correspondence with us and guided us in many ways. During a hard time of the pandemic that is affecting every one of us tremendously, the editorial office helped us make everything easier for publishing scientific work. Hope for a more scientific relationship with your Journal.
The peer-review process which consisted high quality queries on the paper. I did answer six reviewers’ questions and comments before the paper was accepted. The support from the editorial office is excellent.
Journal of Neuroscience and Neurological Surgery. I had the experience of publishing a research article recently. The whole process was simple from submission to publication. The reviewers made specific and valuable recommendations and corrections that improved the quality of my publication. I strongly recommend this Journal.
Dr. Katarzyna Byczkowska My testimonial covering: "The peer review process is quick and effective. The support from the editorial office is very professional and friendly. Quality of the Clinical Cardiology and Cardiovascular Interventions is scientific and publishes ground-breaking research on cardiology that is useful for other professionals in the field.
Thank you most sincerely, with regard to the support you have given in relation to the reviewing process and the processing of my article entitled "Large Cell Neuroendocrine Carcinoma of The Prostate Gland: A Review and Update" for publication in your esteemed Journal, Journal of Cancer Research and Cellular Therapeutics". The editorial team has been very supportive.
Testimony of Journal of Clinical Otorhinolaryngology: work with your Reviews has been a educational and constructive experience. The editorial office were very helpful and supportive. It was a pleasure to contribute to your Journal.
Dr. Bernard Terkimbi Utoo, I am happy to publish my scientific work in Journal of Women Health Care and Issues (JWHCI). The manuscript submission was seamless and peer review process was top notch. I was amazed that 4 reviewers worked on the manuscript which made it a highly technical, standard and excellent quality paper. I appreciate the format and consideration for the APC as well as the speed of publication. It is my pleasure to continue with this scientific relationship with the esteem JWHCI.
This is an acknowledgment for peer reviewers, editorial board of Journal of Clinical Research and Reports. They show a lot of consideration for us as publishers for our research article “Evaluation of the different factors associated with side effects of COVID-19 vaccination on medical students, Mutah university, Al-Karak, Jordan”, in a very professional and easy way. This journal is one of outstanding medical journal.
Dear Hao Jiang, to Journal of Nutrition and Food Processing We greatly appreciate the efficient, professional and rapid processing of our paper by your team. If there is anything else we should do, please do not hesitate to let us know. On behalf of my co-authors, we would like to express our great appreciation to editor and reviewers.
As an author who has recently published in the journal "Brain and Neurological Disorders". I am delighted to provide a testimonial on the peer review process, editorial office support, and the overall quality of the journal. The peer review process at Brain and Neurological Disorders is rigorous and meticulous, ensuring that only high-quality, evidence-based research is published. The reviewers are experts in their fields, and their comments and suggestions were constructive and helped improve the quality of my manuscript. The review process was timely and efficient, with clear communication from the editorial office at each stage. The support from the editorial office was exceptional throughout the entire process. The editorial staff was responsive, professional, and always willing to help. They provided valuable guidance on formatting, structure, and ethical considerations, making the submission process seamless. Moreover, they kept me informed about the status of my manuscript and provided timely updates, which made the process less stressful. The journal Brain and Neurological Disorders is of the highest quality, with a strong focus on publishing cutting-edge research in the field of neurology. The articles published in this journal are well-researched, rigorously peer-reviewed, and written by experts in the field. The journal maintains high standards, ensuring that readers are provided with the most up-to-date and reliable information on brain and neurological disorders. In conclusion, I had a wonderful experience publishing in Brain and Neurological Disorders. The peer review process was thorough, the editorial office provided exceptional support, and the journal's quality is second to none. I would highly recommend this journal to any researcher working in the field of neurology and brain disorders.
Dear Agrippa Hilda, Journal of Neuroscience and Neurological Surgery, Editorial Coordinator, I trust this message finds you well. I want to extend my appreciation for considering my article for publication in your esteemed journal. I am pleased to provide a testimonial regarding the peer review process and the support received from your editorial office. The peer review process for my paper was carried out in a highly professional and thorough manner. The feedback and comments provided by the authors were constructive and very useful in improving the quality of the manuscript. This rigorous assessment process undoubtedly contributes to the high standards maintained by your journal.
International Journal of Clinical Case Reports and Reviews. I strongly recommend to consider submitting your work to this high-quality journal. The support and availability of the Editorial staff is outstanding and the review process was both efficient and rigorous.
Thank you very much for publishing my Research Article titled “Comparing Treatment Outcome Of Allergic Rhinitis Patients After Using Fluticasone Nasal Spray And Nasal Douching" in the Journal of Clinical Otorhinolaryngology. As Medical Professionals we are immensely benefited from study of various informative Articles and Papers published in this high quality Journal. I look forward to enriching my knowledge by regular study of the Journal and contribute my future work in the field of ENT through the Journal for use by the medical fraternity. The support from the Editorial office was excellent and very prompt. I also welcome the comments received from the readers of my Research Article.
Dear Erica Kelsey, Editorial Coordinator of Cancer Research and Cellular Therapeutics Our team is very satisfied with the processing of our paper by your journal. That was fast, efficient, rigorous, but without unnecessary complications. We appreciated the very short time between the submission of the paper and its publication on line on your site.
I am very glad to say that the peer review process is very successful and fast and support from the Editorial Office. Therefore, I would like to continue our scientific relationship for a long time. And I especially thank you for your kindly attention towards my article. Have a good day!
"We recently published an article entitled “Influence of beta-Cyclodextrins upon the Degradation of Carbofuran Derivatives under Alkaline Conditions" in the Journal of “Pesticides and Biofertilizers” to show that the cyclodextrins protect the carbamates increasing their half-life time in the presence of basic conditions This will be very helpful to understand carbofuran behaviour in the analytical, agro-environmental and food areas. We greatly appreciated the interaction with the editor and the editorial team; we were particularly well accompanied during the course of the revision process, since all various steps towards publication were short and without delay".
I would like to express my gratitude towards you process of article review and submission. I found this to be very fair and expedient. Your follow up has been excellent. I have many publications in national and international journal and your process has been one of the best so far. Keep up the great work.
We are grateful for this opportunity to provide a glowing recommendation to the Journal of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy. We found that the editorial team were very supportive, helpful, kept us abreast of timelines and over all very professional in nature. The peer review process was rigorous, efficient and constructive that really enhanced our article submission. The experience with this journal remains one of our best ever and we look forward to providing future submissions in the near future.
I am very pleased to serve as EBM of the journal, I hope many years of my experience in stem cells can help the journal from one way or another. As we know, stem cells hold great potential for regenerative medicine, which are mostly used to promote the repair response of diseased, dysfunctional or injured tissue using stem cells or their derivatives. I think Stem Cell Research and Therapeutics International is a great platform to publish and share the understanding towards the biology and translational or clinical application of stem cells.
I would like to give my testimony in the support I have got by the peer review process and to support the editorial office where they were of asset to support young author like me to be encouraged to publish their work in your respected journal and globalize and share knowledge across the globe. I really give my great gratitude to your journal and the peer review including the editorial office.
I am delighted to publish our manuscript entitled "A Perspective on Cocaine Induced Stroke - Its Mechanisms and Management" in the Journal of Neuroscience and Neurological Surgery. The peer review process, support from the editorial office, and quality of the journal are excellent. The manuscripts published are of high quality and of excellent scientific value. I recommend this journal very much to colleagues.
Dr.Tania Muñoz, My experience as researcher and author of a review article in The Journal Clinical Cardiology and Interventions has been very enriching and stimulating. The editorial team is excellent, performs its work with absolute responsibility and delivery. They are proactive, dynamic and receptive to all proposals. Supporting at all times the vast universe of authors who choose them as an option for publication. The team of review specialists, members of the editorial board, are brilliant professionals, with remarkable performance in medical research and scientific methodology. Together they form a frontline team that consolidates the JCCI as a magnificent option for the publication and review of high-level medical articles and broad collective interest. I am honored to be able to share my review article and open to receive all your comments.
“The peer review process of JPMHC is quick and effective. Authors are benefited by good and professional reviewers with huge experience in the field of psychology and mental health. The support from the editorial office is very professional. People to contact to are friendly and happy to help and assist any query authors might have. Quality of the Journal is scientific and publishes ground-breaking research on mental health that is useful for other professionals in the field”.
Dear editorial department: On behalf of our team, I hereby certify the reliability and superiority of the International Journal of Clinical Case Reports and Reviews in the peer review process, editorial support, and journal quality. Firstly, the peer review process of the International Journal of Clinical Case Reports and Reviews is rigorous, fair, transparent, fast, and of high quality. The editorial department invites experts from relevant fields as anonymous reviewers to review all submitted manuscripts. These experts have rich academic backgrounds and experience, and can accurately evaluate the academic quality, originality, and suitability of manuscripts. The editorial department is committed to ensuring the rigor of the peer review process, while also making every effort to ensure a fast review cycle to meet the needs of authors and the academic community. Secondly, the editorial team of the International Journal of Clinical Case Reports and Reviews is composed of a group of senior scholars and professionals with rich experience and professional knowledge in related fields. The editorial department is committed to assisting authors in improving their manuscripts, ensuring their academic accuracy, clarity, and completeness. Editors actively collaborate with authors, providing useful suggestions and feedback to promote the improvement and development of the manuscript. We believe that the support of the editorial department is one of the key factors in ensuring the quality of the journal. Finally, the International Journal of Clinical Case Reports and Reviews is renowned for its high- quality articles and strict academic standards. The editorial department is committed to publishing innovative and academically valuable research results to promote the development and progress of related fields. The International Journal of Clinical Case Reports and Reviews is reasonably priced and ensures excellent service and quality ratio, allowing authors to obtain high-level academic publishing opportunities in an affordable manner. I hereby solemnly declare that the International Journal of Clinical Case Reports and Reviews has a high level of credibility and superiority in terms of peer review process, editorial support, reasonable fees, and journal quality. Sincerely, Rui Tao.
Clinical Cardiology and Cardiovascular Interventions I testity the covering of the peer review process, support from the editorial office, and quality of the journal.
Clinical Cardiology and Cardiovascular Interventions, we deeply appreciate the interest shown in our work and its publication. It has been a true pleasure to collaborate with you. The peer review process, as well as the support provided by the editorial office, have been exceptional, and the quality of the journal is very high, which was a determining factor in our decision to publish with you.
The peer reviewers process is quick and effective, the supports from editorial office is excellent, the quality of journal is high. I would like to collabroate with Internatioanl journal of Clinical Case Reports and Reviews journal clinically in the future time.
Clinical Cardiology and Cardiovascular Interventions, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude for the trust placed in our team for the publication in your journal. It has been a true pleasure to collaborate with you on this project. I am pleased to inform you that both the peer review process and the attention from the editorial coordination have been excellent. Your team has worked with dedication and professionalism to ensure that your publication meets the highest standards of quality. We are confident that this collaboration will result in mutual success, and we are eager to see the fruits of this shared effort.
Dear Dr. Jessica Magne, Editorial Coordinator 0f Clinical Cardiology and Cardiovascular Interventions, I hope this message finds you well. I want to express my utmost gratitude for your excellent work and for the dedication and speed in the publication process of my article titled "Navigating Innovation: Qualitative Insights on Using Technology for Health Education in Acute Coronary Syndrome Patients." I am very satisfied with the peer review process, the support from the editorial office, and the quality of the journal. I hope we can maintain our scientific relationship in the long term.
Dear Monica Gissare, - Editorial Coordinator of Nutrition and Food Processing. ¨My testimony with you is truly professional, with a positive response regarding the follow-up of the article and its review, you took into account my qualities and the importance of the topic¨.
Dear Dr. Jessica Magne, Editorial Coordinator 0f Clinical Cardiology and Cardiovascular Interventions, The review process for the article “The Handling of Anti-aggregants and Anticoagulants in the Oncologic Heart Patient Submitted to Surgery” was extremely rigorous and detailed. From the initial submission to the final acceptance, the editorial team at the “Journal of Clinical Cardiology and Cardiovascular Interventions” demonstrated a high level of professionalism and dedication. The reviewers provided constructive and detailed feedback, which was essential for improving the quality of our work. Communication was always clear and efficient, ensuring that all our questions were promptly addressed. The quality of the “Journal of Clinical Cardiology and Cardiovascular Interventions” is undeniable. It is a peer-reviewed, open-access publication dedicated exclusively to disseminating high-quality research in the field of clinical cardiology and cardiovascular interventions. The journal's impact factor is currently under evaluation, and it is indexed in reputable databases, which further reinforces its credibility and relevance in the scientific field. I highly recommend this journal to researchers looking for a reputable platform to publish their studies.
Dear Editorial Coordinator of the Journal of Nutrition and Food Processing! "I would like to thank the Journal of Nutrition and Food Processing for including and publishing my article. The peer review process was very quick, movement and precise. The Editorial Board has done an extremely conscientious job with much help, valuable comments and advices. I find the journal very valuable from a professional point of view, thank you very much for allowing me to be part of it and I would like to participate in the future!”
Dealing with The Journal of Neurology and Neurological Surgery was very smooth and comprehensive. The office staff took time to address my needs and the response from editors and the office was prompt and fair. I certainly hope to publish with this journal again.Their professionalism is apparent and more than satisfactory. Susan Weiner
