NationStates Jolt Archive

I recently read about this nasty critter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasmosis). A parasite that can apparently control your mind (yes, this is NSG, so I'm absolutely speaking about RL here) and turn you into a dumbass (boys) or sex addict (girls). Some scientists even claim it is the reason for differences in culture, ethics and general success of certain civilizations (25% of the population of Britain is infected, while only 2,4% are infected in Korea, just to give an example).

You may also take a look here (http://www.seedmagazine.com/news/2006/08/the_cultureshaping_parasite.php) if you want it said the real creepy way. Or here (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,20975555-29277,00.html).

Well, that freaked me out. I'm going to see a doctor one of these days and get a checkup of wether I'm infected. And though some sources claim there is no treatment, others mention there is, so I'm going to smack that thingy real bad if it's inside me.

What about you? Doesn't it sound creepy to you. Having flashbacks of any horror b-movies from the 80's? No, but honestly, what do you think? How much of a threat is this to a single person or a civilization as a whole? Any words on this?

It sounds like an advance case of hypochondria.

Yeah ok, I admitt, I'm overdoing it here, but I though the topic was interesting and if I'd post a scientific abstact on toxoplasmonium gondii, nobody would have ever dropped by to post, don't you think?



You could include actual prevalence statistics about the rate of infection plus the actual probable likelihood of infection.

edit - time warp

Yeah ok, I admitt, I'm overdoing it here, but I though the topic was interesting and if I'd post a scientific abstact on toxoplasmonium gondii, nobody would have ever dropped by to post, don't you think?

Hehe, I remember reading about this a few years back, and being faintly perturbed by the idea. Not sure why, to be honest, since I'm one of those "humans are just mammals, after all" types :p

(Edit: found the article (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/850556.stm) that I read all those years back.. ain't the 'net wonderful? :D)

You may also take a look here (http://www.seedmagazine.com/news/2006/08/the_cultureshaping_parasite.php) if you want it said the real creepy way. Or here (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,20975555-29277,00.html).


Very cool. Never heard of that before (the effects on humans, not the parasite itself).

Also: quite unsettling. Is us being us actually us or is it the parasite? Would it count as a disease that is to be cured or is it so common that it's just a given and "just the way we are"?

Creepy. <<

Hmmm, I'm wondering... some of the articles claim that this parasite causes neophobia (fear of new situations), while others claim it reduces your cautiousness and makes you head right into situations without analyzing them propably. So, what's it be now? Fear or suppression of fear.

There are also some other things that seem to be contradicting each other, but this was what caught me first.

http://www.geocities.com/pippinsworld/GetFuzzy.jpg

Also: quite unsettling. Is us being us actually us or is it the parasite? Would it count as a disease that is to be cured or is it so common that it's just a given and "just the way we are"?

Creepy. <<

Yeah, well, I was thinking this as well... but on the other hand... imagine someone suffering from, say, ADS. That's affecting his behaviour, and some people would argue that medication would change who that person is. However, one fares much better in life when medicated. In the US, 30% of all children are already taking medication against ADS (although it would not be indicated in most cases), so it's become more of a tuning rather than cure. Or take aging. Everybody ages, and dies, eventually. However, most people don't like it that way and science is searching for ways out, though it is an absolutely natural state. I don't care wether I'm curing an abnormal status or tuning myself - as long as it helps me become a genius like 15% of Korean kids seem to be, I'm gladly willing to purge that thing from my brain. It's not about who you really are, but who you want to be - and I want to be the best I can get, without nasty phobias, schizophrenia, paranoia, ADS and whatthehellnot this parasite brings along. As for the girls, as it seems to boost their mental functions, they should be keeping it (even if it makes them easy game, hehe).

But, bottom line, I think this creature has not been taken serious enough in the scientific community yet and there needs a _lot_ of research to be done on the effects it has on your personality - there is very few research data available, even if the results are very suggestive.

I'm not 100% sure of this now, but, it could be possible.

The effects would be obvious, maybe there's a cure, maybe not.

Either way, if someone notices it. Who knows.

Interesting. I could see a sizable market in mechanized nanodevices for parasite removal; of course, toxoplasmosis is hardly the most pressing one, but a cure is a cure and would benefit us. I imagine somebody's already working on something, so my idea is a little too late, but all you biomedical engineers keep it in mind. You don't even have to pay me.

I wonder, though, if toxoplasmosis incidence is higher now than it was in the past; I wouldn't think so, given the huge increases in sanitation in recent years and lower exposure, even for cats, to potential sources of infection.

pfft looks like a silly way to look at cultural relativism to me

Interesting. I could see a sizable market in mechanized nanodevices for parasite removal

why would companies do such a silly thing as remove the parasites?

I wonder, though, if toxoplasmosis incidence is higher now than it was in the past; I wouldn't think so, given the huge increases in sanitation in recent years and lower exposure, even for cats, to potential sources of infection.

back in ye olde time we didn't have McDonald's :p

why would companies do such a silly thing as remove the parasites?

Because people don't like parasites, and especially don't like parasites that hurt them, and would be willing to pay money to remove said parasites. I know I would, if I had them.

back in ye olde time we didn't have McDonald's :p

Yeah...

Because people don't like parasites, and especially don't like parasites that hurt them, and would be willing to pay money to remove said parasites. I know I would, if I had them.

I disagree. I think we like parasites. That's why we keep voting for them. *nod*

Because people don't like parasites, and especially don't like parasites that hurt them, and would be willing to pay money to remove said parasites. I know I would, if I had them.

why not just go down the psychiatry debt route and have the customers pay for regular pills to make them happy instead of actually treating them?

yeah I know thats not always the case, but it could certainly be applied to this seeing as how its more playing on the populations fear

Well, that's fucking scary. Kind of the thing that makes me want to don an NBC Warfare suit and never come into contact with anything again to not get it.

Or maybe I all ready have it.

Ah, bollocks to it either way.

why not just go down the psychiatry debt route and have the customers pay for regular pills to make them happy instead of actually treating them?

Because I actually want to help people first and make money second? Of course, truth be told, it would be an incredible competitive move to offer cures instead of just treatments; your market share would soar and other companies would have to do the same in order to compete.

Right. Seeing as you're named after an organisation from Final Fantasy VII, I'm going to guess that you're about 13 at this point. Oh, also, you're a bit of a hypochondriac.

In addition, since I don't really like cats, and neither eat them nor pick their shite up, I'll probably be sound.

Because I actually want to help people first and make money second?

you a nano-scientist with infinite money cheats now?

Of course, truth be told, it would be an incredible competitive move to offer cures instead of just treatments; your market share would soar and other companies would have to do the same in order to compete.

which is exactly how the world has worked out

In addition, since I don't really like cats

:eek:

you a nano-scientist with infinite money cheats now?

No, just a person with an idea. Of course, ideas are sometimes all it takes...that and a capable group of people capable of making it a reality.

which is exactly how the world has worked out

Just because it hasn't worked out that way doesn't mean it won't. Eventually, critical mass will build up and they will have to give, or else there won't be a market for pharmaceuticals left.

:eek: 80% of the dutch are probably infected. Oh well, it's good anyway, otherwise I'd be too smart :D

:eek:
Quite different from "I really don't like cats" ;)

Well, I'm going to leave this:

Right. Seeing as you're named after an organisation from Final Fantasy VII, I'm going to guess that you're about 13 at this point. Oh, also, you're a bit of a hypochondriac.


be as it may for now, though you have at least got my age wrong, and go solely for:


In addition, since I don't really like cats, and neither eat them nor pick their shite up, I'll probably be sound.

So you're assuming 1/4 of all brits and 80% of all french are cat poo sniffers? (or eat cat meat - well, perhaps we can all stop guessing what lands in McDonald's patties.) Seeing how you wiped the floor with me little old smart-ass in the lines quoted further above, I'm assuming that you already know what I'm trying to say here: Apparently, people can be infected without engaging in behaviour that would be considered as carrying a high risk for infection.


you're a bit of a hypochondriac.


Well, to say it again: I did exaggerate with my first post - I thought the topic was interesting, but would you have read a scientific abstract on toxoplasmonium gondii, not to speak of commenting on it? Propably not, so I had to make all that flashbang.

Hmmm, I think I'm a just get back to the age once more:

FFVII came out when? 1997. If I was 13 by now, I'd either been smacking down on Sephiroth at the age of three, or bought myself one really old game. No, well, I bought FFVII when I was 16, and I did buy one really old game then, but that's some years by the by now. Still, I just like that game's story, the depth, the ...wha'ever... I hope you get the idea, even if you look down on me as beeing a little childish because I choose that name. Well, we're on NS here, where everyone can get all funny doing his or her nation just the way he/she wants to, right?

Also: quite unsettling. Is us being us actually us or is it the parasite? Would it count as a disease that is to be cured or is it so common that it's just a given and "just the way we are"?

Creepy. <<

isn't it the stuff in cat crap? it sounds like it......it's why (IIRC) pregnant women aren't supposed to have cats.

Every disease does this. The common cold virus makes us sneeze, so we spread the germs around and allow it to infect another host, the herpes virus can make us more sexual, spreading it as well. All diseases try to affect our behaviour so we spread them more easily.

Every disease finds a way to spread, and tries to alter the host to help it spread.

Our very genes are parasitic in nature and are believed to be somwhat composed of parasites that are so well-ingrained that they're essentially of us as opposed to separate.

This is nothing new.

Also, no one has mentioned Trainspotting - the guy dies of toxoplasmosis in the book/film.

The interesting thing is how this affects virulence of a disease, and is of concern when we hear about the Asian flu virus. The harder it is for a disease to be transmitted, the more likely it is to become virulent - hence the common cold is very mild, because it's easy to transmit.

Therfore we have the argument of whether poor use of antibiotics, or the over-use of antibiotics leads to superbugs - in a sense it's an overblown worry because it's rarely in the interest of a disease to kill off it's entire host population, hence the Plague runs out of steam.

That's also why cancer is different, it's an illness that cares not to kill.

There's an interesting book on parasites called (naturally) Parasite Rex by Carl Zimmer that offer very detailed study on them. Parasites like the ones mentioned in the OP are driven to reproduce and infest as many hosts as possible. In animals they originally infest, they do this by influencing their hosts into suicidal behaviors that ideally get them killed and eaten by larger animals, climbing up the food chain to bigger and more comfortable lodgings so to speak. Of course in the instances they infest a human, the different body chemistry between humans and animals means that the parasites make the new volunteers react differently from the creatures they're used to infesting.

On a side note, if someone can figure out how the parasites affect the thoughts of human hosts that could be one of the keys towards developing breakthroughs in psychiatric medicine... or even perfecting the mythical Gay Bomb for the military-minded.

On a side note, if someone can figure out how the parasites affect the thoughts of human hosts that could be one of the keys towards developing breakthroughs in psychiatric medicine... or even perfecting the mythical Gay Bomb for the military-minded.

Wouldn't that be considered biological warfare?

Wouldn't that be considered biological warfare?

Only if it involves using modified strains of the parasite to produce the desired results. Most likely the research will discover a new set of chemicals or proteins that the parasite uses to affect its hosts, resulting in new pharmaceutical breakthroughs for mental health. Or yes, psychological warfare.

There's an interesting book on parasites called (naturally) Parasite Rex by Carl Zimmer that offer very detailed study on them. Parasites like the ones mentioned in the OP are driven to reproduce and infest as many hosts as possible. In animals they originally infest, they do this by influencing their hosts into suicidal behaviors that ideally get them killed and eaten by larger animals, climbing up the food chain to bigger and more comfortable lodgings so to speak. Of course in the instances they infest a human, the different body chemistry between humans and animals means that the parasites make the new volunteers react differently from the creatures they're used to infesting.

On a side note, if someone can figure out how the parasites affect the thoughts of human hosts that could be one of the keys towards developing breakthroughs in psychiatric medicine... or even perfecting the mythical Gay Bomb for the military-minded.

Tampering with the way one thinks in a non-scholastic or paternal way is WRONG! BURN ALL THE PARASITES!

LOL, If we don't act now this may happen on a massive scale in the not so distant future. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KE0njnZXyY)

This parasite could evolve into the human version of the holovirus.