CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A college professor wants West Virginia students to know zombies are not real, but the way humans think of zombies should be looked at more carefully.
Dr. Steve Schlozman is an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. He’s also a child psychiatrist and likes to write scary novels about zombies.
“One of the most interesting things about zombies is you don’t have to run away. You can eat a sandwich while getting away from a zombie. All you’ve got to do is walk slightly faster to get away and I’ll say that to the kids — so why do we attack them?” Schlozman asked.
The answer is simple, he said. The human brain naturally jumps to conclusions.
Schlozman was at the Charleston Civic Center last week to give a presentation to West Virginia 9th grade students at the GEAR UP Career Academy.
The presentation focused on neurobiology and his book that deals with how zombies are perceived in the brain. Schlozman said he wants students to know it’s important to analyze a problem first. He compared that to coming face-to-face with a zombie.
“If it’s something new, you have to watch it at first. That’s actually the first stage of science,” he explained. “Then you start to tie it to things that you’ve seen before. I want them to understand how you work a problem.”
Schlozman’s book is called “The Zombie Autopsies.” He said the book is a dark comedy about sick zombies that are operated on.
More than 1,000 students from 10 West Virginia counties were at the GEAR UP Career Academy. Nearly 80 employers were there to speak with students who are preparing for college and careers.