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Anyone remember a thread we had a few months ago that, for a time, evolved into a discussion of parasites that change the behavior of their hosts, generally in ways that increase the liklihood of the parasite's transmission to other hosts? I just came across a variety of links dealing with the subject, and thought I'd share them.
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I have, actually; it was my first introduction to the idea of this kind of thing, and a damned good story. For those who haven't read it, The Giving Plague is available for free on his site.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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I think Ralphie does indeed have a cat and even has pictures of "Fatty fatty fat fat" up at foobonic...but maybe you were being sarcastic, Rabbit. Posts: 1423 | Registered: Sep 2003
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quote:Infected men, suggests one new study, tend to become more aggressive, scruffy, antisocial and are less attractive. Women, on the other hand, appear to exhibit the “sex kitten” effect, becoming less trustworthy, more desirable, fun- loving and possibly more promiscuous.
Judging from the evidence?
I like the gruff, brutally honest thing, though. I like it in Leto, too. I disagree with the writer's characterization.
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As to why the extra Rs: *sigh* I think the headline is supposed to be purring.
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Yeah Erik, I was startled by all of the changes to the site too! I'm glad you mentioned the story or I wouldn't have surfed over to his site to link to it.
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I particularly liked his take on Blogging. "Just another tar baby" to keep from getting any real work done. Heh, heh.
Posts: 2506 | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote: Women, on the other hand, appear to exhibit the "sex kitten" effect, becoming less trustworthy, more desirable, fun-loving and possibly more promiscuous... "We found they were more easy-going, more warm-hearted, had more friends and cared more about how they looked."
Now I know why I unaccountably purchased this mask.
Here is a blog by the author of the above book. Looks like it has some great stuff; the post I linked to is more up to date (in terms of the possible link between toxoplasmosis and schizophrenia, for example) than the links I posted in 2003. Based on the strength of this particular entry, I think I'll have to spend some time exploring the rest of the blog.
[Edit--looks like aspectre beat me to the punch on Parasite Rext by...oh, about two and a half years.]
[Edit II--don't you hate it when you try to edit a post and instead you end up quoting it? I do that all the freaking time.]
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Cool, Noemon, and thanks! I don't remember this thread at all, but it was during my off-internet period, so no big surprise. Now I'm going to have to go looking through all the links... Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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This is all really interesting. I just wish that the links weren't so old. Then I could actually read some of the articles that people are quoting. They seem so thought-provoking.
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Video games taught me about this. Resident Evil 4's main plot involves parasites that change their host's behavior.
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It is, indeed. I'm always fascinated by self-interpretation of intention. There are things that can happen to humans that cause them to confabulate, or to work up reasons after the fact to make sense of what they had done. It's amazing -- makes me wonder how much of my intentionality is rationalization after fact, and about which I am unaware.
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Rabies is a parasite with this well-known effect. It's transmitted via saliva, so making an animal more aggressive greatly increases the chance of infection. It's far less subtle than these other types of effects, but it seems consistent with the general idea.
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Hey, thanks for bumping the thread. It's ubercool. And I need to read through this stuff again. NaNoWriMo inspiration, don't'cha know? Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Somehow that one seems less interesting than a lot of the other examples we've been talking about because the behavoir of the host is neutral for the parasite rather than beneficial (assuming I'm not missing something, of course). Still interesting, but not one of the ones I'll be lying awake thinking about.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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I've been wanting to email you for a while now, by the way, but I don't seem to have your address saved anywhere, and strangely enough I can't find any email from you. Even though I know I should have some. Very strange.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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"...seems less interesting than...other examples...because the behavior of the host is neutral for the parasite rather than beneficial..."
Well I'm assuming that the whirling behaviour attracts predatory birds as the disease creates easy prey. "This causes the fish to swim erratically (whirl) and have difficulty feeding and avoiding predators." Those birds in turn have their feathers heavily dosed with spores which are then flown to uninfected waterways.
Well, the latest episode of House ultimately tied behavioral changes in a patient to a parasite.
To make a long story short, lots of behavioral changes involving guilt, anger and risk-taking are due to a vitamin b-12 deficiency caused by a 25 foot long tapeworm.
Posts: 4344 | Registered: Mar 2003
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quote:Originally posted by aspectre: "...seems less interesting than...other examples...because the behavior of the host is neutral for the parasite rather than beneficial..."
Ah, okay. That's much more interesting. Well I'm assuming that the whirling behaviour attracts predatory birds as the disease creates easy prey. "This causes the fish to swim erratically (whirl) and have difficulty feeding and avoiding predators." Those birds in turn have their feathers heavily dosed with spores which are then flown to uninfected waterways.
quote:Originally posted by ClaudiaTherese: Sent you an email, Noemon. [to the address in your HR profile here]
Got it! Or rather, I can see that it's arrived in my gmailbox. I won't be able to actually access my gmail until I get home tonight. In any case, thanks!
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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"the latest episode of House ultimately tied...behavioral changes involving guilt, anger and risk-taking are due to a vitamin b-12 deficiency caused by a 25 foot long tapeworm."
Useta be that "the devil made me do it" followed by an exorcism was sufficient. And now we gotta name the specific parasite.
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