So....

So, I was wondering the other day if zombies are merely mindless beasts, bound by merely instinct, or if they were actually capable of strategic thought.
You know, this matters, because if they're merely bound by instinct, then defense is a simple matter of building a big enough divide between your territory and the "outside"--which could be a static defense.  But if they're actually capable of strategic thought, then you need a much, much more significant and robust defense network.  Think about it.  You could grow your own food and raise your own meat, but if the zombies are capable of strategic thought they would eventually figure out that they don't actually have to catch YOU, they just need to tear out the crops and destroy the livestock.  Then you have to go hunt, which means venturing outside of the compound, which means their dinner comes to them.

I'm kind of thinking that they're probably not so much capable of strategic thought, since they're basically rotting undead corpses that hunger for protein in order to replace the flesh that is slowly withering away from their ruined bodies.