My point was that vampires were by definition not real—or at least, not understandable—because any time we found something real and understandable that met the definition of a vampire, we would change the definition to exclude it.
Nonsense. If there was a creature that:
Used to be a normal living human
Still looks human
Has the same internal organs but none of them are functioning
Isn’t vulnerable to hemlock
Has more strength than could plausibly attributed to humans according to our understanding of genetics
Has teeth which extend to fangs and then retract.
Can only be sustained by blood.
Definitely doesn’t glitter. Ever.
Physically cannot enter people’s houses due to physical restraint that seems to be only operating on the creature. Exception—can enter people’s houses if invited.
Starts behaving like the human that they used to be except with extreme sociopathic and homicidal tendencies.
Is unaffected by getting stabbed in the chest by anything but a wooden stake. (Wooden stake kills him.)
Burns when exposed to sunlight, holy water or religious symbols.
Instantly turns to dust when staked, decapitated or sufficiently burnt via the aforementioned causes.
… then basically everyone would agree it was a vampire. LARPy Asimov is just being annoying when he tries to spin the question about the universe into a question about semantics.
Nonsense. If there was a creature that:
Used to be a normal living human
Still looks human
Has the same internal organs but none of them are functioning
Isn’t vulnerable to hemlock
Has more strength than could plausibly attributed to humans according to our understanding of genetics
Has teeth which extend to fangs and then retract.
Can only be sustained by blood.
Definitely doesn’t glitter. Ever.
Physically cannot enter people’s houses due to physical restraint that seems to be only operating on the creature. Exception—can enter people’s houses if invited.
Starts behaving like the human that they used to be except with extreme sociopathic and homicidal tendencies.
Is unaffected by getting stabbed in the chest by anything but a wooden stake. (Wooden stake kills him.)
Burns when exposed to sunlight, holy water or religious symbols.
Instantly turns to dust when staked, decapitated or sufficiently burnt via the aforementioned causes.
… then basically everyone would agree it was a vampire. LARPy Asimov is just being annoying when he tries to spin the question about the universe into a question about semantics.
Except some Twilight fans.