Vampire Thought Experiment

[Dagda]

Could a vampire exist and,if so, how?
For the porpose of debate lets asume vampire's don't 'turn' every human they feed off.

[Thanatos]

Lots of creatures survive by drinking blood. Needing it to survive is hardly outlandish on a planet full of mosquitoes and leeches and vampire bats.

Regrowing lost limbs happens too. Geckoes will regenerate lost tails and a starfish can survive being ripped to pieces. There's nothing in nature that grows back even close to faster than machinegun fire can break it up, but closer than one would think. A strand of kelp can grow three feet in a day.

Allergy to sunlight? There are people walking around right now with this affliction. Granted they burst into hives instead of flames, but people can be allergic to anything. I've even heard of garlic allergies.

Sun allergy: Can I be allergic to sunshine? - MayoClinic.com

There is not much in nature that spontaneously burns in response to bright light. A few manmade substances will, such as carbon nanotubes.

Carbon nanotubes burn when flashed - Chemistry - Brief Article | Science News | Find Articles at BNET.com

There is one little thing that I have no ideas for.

I cannot imagine the bioengineering behind detecting when the vampire is in contact with a cross-shaped piece of wood of religious significance so the vampire knows when to spontaneously combust.

[Technosoul]

Drinking cow blood will provide food while keeping the cow alive, which is like having your pie and eating it too. In Africa.

Yum Yum kids, nothing like a glass of warm blood for supper.

Africa Top Five: #2 - got blood? [India Ink]

Of course the worse vampires are sick people who get blood transfusions at hospitals. While the rest of us donate our blood to blood banks so they can tank up.

The Vampire bat of Mexico also prefers cow blood as elsewhere in the world, for which reason the human vampirism as an legend got started. Being that most people have not evolved fangs yet, we never really adapted to this method of animal conservation via just snacking on a little blood which the animal can replace. Other then in Africa.

However we can suck other people dry of their emotional energy by upsetting them to get mad or fearful, and then feed off that energy to give our self a stemulating lift when we feel the need for a power drink.

The human "emotional vampires" are the most common of all, trying to maintain life by living off the emotional energy of other people until we drain them dry and they die on us. Oh well, they should have been wearing a cross of something religious.

[another day]

There are african tribes that survive almost solely off blood from cows mixed with milk or something.

But there's alot more to being a vampire ala dracula then that.

[gela]

Vampires were just a medaphor for premarital sex..
The woman gives into the creature of the night.. and then she will become one of them (that or she will catch an STD..)

But anyway.. Scientifically speaking.. If there was a species that prayed on humans, then the most evolutionary helpful form for them to take would be one of a human.
If they were a different species, then it would be realistic for them to have a different life span.. (a longer life span could be interpreted as immortal)

[Dagda]

cannot imagine the bioengineering behind detecting when the vampire is in contact with a cross-shaped piece of wood of religious significance so the vampire knows when to spontaneously combust.

If a vampire had a low level telechnetique feild(hardly beond science) the blind faith of the victim weilding the crross may make the vampire uncomfartable enough to move on. The combustion is, perhaps, a church invention to make them appear all-powerful.
The telecinesis(almost certianly spelt wrong) could explain why attacks are not reported-the memory is blocked or the sleeping victim is keept asleep.

[Chaossaber314]

Quote by: Thanatos I cannot imagine the bioengineering behind detecting when the vampire is in contact with a cross-shaped piece of wood of religious significance so the vampire knows when to spontaneously combust.

The novel I Am Legend, not to be confused with the Will Smith movie of the same name, answered this quandry as a result of psychology. The vampires view themselves as unholy so when faced with a religious artifact of the faith they had as a human being they cower from it. A formerly Christian vampire would cower in the face of a cross and likewise a formerly Jewish vampire would cower in the face of a star of David.

[Thanatos]

Quote by: Chaossaber314 The novel I Am Legend, not to be confused with the Will Smith movie of the same name, answered this quandry as a result of psychology. The vampires view themselves as unholy so when faced with a religious artifact of the faith they had as a human being they cower from it. A formerly Christian vampire would cower in the face of a cross and likewise a formerly Jewish vampire would cower in the face of a star of David.

Atheist vampires would be unstoppable and rule the world.

[Anmon]

If I was unfortunate enough to be a vampire, I would only take the blood of criminals, a win win solution for me and society.

[grandpa]

Quote by: Anmon If I was unfortunate enough to be a vampire, I would only take the blood of criminals, a win win solution for me and society.

Of course, criminals would have a right to fight back.

Grandpa h.

[Tim]

There was a neat episode of the X-files about vampires. It was called 3, and I believe it was from season 2. I remember they tried to explain the allergy to sunlight as an amplified version of a rare genetic disease.

[Winter wind]

Hey this ties in with my book...

Well vamps could survive if there were only, like, four of them and they their life span increased with the number of victims they take (I'm thinking more soul vampires).

A person without their soul would be a zombie like person who tried to complete his lack of soul by eating the souls of others.

Soulless killers would be written down as serial killers and the vampires would live on in the world.

Oh, and has anyone noticed how vampires, regardless of what culture they are from, always seem to be connected to an animal somehow.

[Anmon]

Quote by: Winter wind Oh, and has anyone noticed how vampires, regardless of what culture they are from, always seem to be connected to an animal somehow.

bats.

[Winter wind]

Quote by: anmon bats.

kitsunes to foxes
lamias to snakes

I've done my research (I'm writing a book for Christ sake)

[Anmon]

Quote by: grandpa Of course, criminals would have a right to fight back. Grandpa h.

Of course, anyone has that right when their fighting for their lives, but seriously what chance do they have?
I can move quicker than they can see, and my strength is like fifty times theirs.
Not to mention the only way they can kill me is to either behead me, trap me with sunlight somehow, immerse me in holy water, brand my forhead with a silver cross, shoot me with a solid silver bullet, or drive a stake through my heart while I sleep in my coffin, which they have to find first.
The average criminal would not even be aware of me before he or she was taken, and even if they were, what chance would they be armed at the time with a few lites of holy water, a sharp wooden stake, or solid silver bullets?
And even if a crim did get lucky one day, it would probably be after hundreds of years of me living and killing thousands of crminals, thus making society a safer place to live in, and I would be probably tired of living by then anyway.

[Anmon]

Quote by: Winter wind kitsunes to foxes lamias to snakes I've done my research (I'm writing a book for Christ sake)

uh tut tut wind, blasphemy.

its usually bats

[Winter wind]

In the west sure, but your talking to the guy from China where there aren't any tales about vampire bats.

insects are big in china.

[Anmon]

I thought bats were huge in Chinese folklore, we used to have a show in aussie called monkey, and there were a few episodes about bats in them.

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

[Winter wind]

Monkey king?

Well, I was never aware of bats being big in folklore, but they could have been doing a shout out to the west. It's a shrinking world.

[Anmon]

Quote by: Winter wind Monkey king? Well, I was never aware of bats being big in folklore, but they could have been doing a shout out to the west. It's a shrinking world.

yeah maybe, I remember a few episodes of Chinese vampires being bats, it was a pretty good series.