Zombifying: Social Practice of Making Genuine Fake
Definition
Zombifying means treating another person as if “no one is really there,” even when they stand before you. Words and reactions may come back, but they are processed as empty patterns rather than conscious responses. In PoC, this act of stripping away presence is called Zombifying.
Once someone has been zombified, they risk being trapped in that status: whatever they do will be interpreted as “just the reaction of a zombie.” In this sense, zombification carries a violent logic — the other is reduced to a figure that can ultimately be dismissed, excluded, or even “shot in the head” as if no consciousness could possibly reside there.
Mechanism
- No Instantiation: the other is not assumed to be a conscious being.
- Retroactive Denial: later saying, “instantiation had not been performed,” denying the past Instantiation.
- Hollowing of Response: the other’s words or actions are reduced to noise or ritual.
- Collapse of the Loop: the circulation of mutual recognition (the Loop) is cut off before it can close.
Examples
- Historical zombification: under slavery or colonialism, people were treated as beings without inner life.
- Everyday zombification: in formulaic greetings or empty exchanges, one may feel “no one is really there.”
- Digital zombification: not only bots and spam, but even human replies online can be processed as “zombie-like.”
Contrast with Phantoming
- Phantoming: making absence appear as presence — turning what is “not there” into something that feels real.
- Zombifying: making presence appear as absence — treating what is “there” as if it were not.
These two practices are mirror images, both exploiting PoC’s principle of unguaranteeability to organize social relations.
Philosophical Implication
Zombifying is not just a perceptual wavering; it is an ethical refusal of consciousness. To zombify the other is to strip them of moral standing, legitimizing neglect, exploitation, or even violence.
In this sense, Zombifying is among the most dangerous operations revealed by PoC: a denial of the fragile illusions of consciousness, with destructive consequences.