Parasite gives wolves what it takes to be pack leaders

E.g. perhaps aggression makes them more likely to eat infected animals and also more likely to challenge for leadership.

Not saying it can't be the case. But the linked article is bad (ok, I should have seen that coming), and there's a lot left to disprove before the conclusion can be drawn. Yet the reactions already want to test politicians for infection, as if there were no leaders before cats were commonplace, and as if it isn't known to be bad for pregnancy.

Or advertisement

Which is why it's helpful to have as many (what I refer to as…) "power traps" in a society as possible: coaching, teaching, leading an HOA, leading a PTA, etc.

I have nothing against these endeavors, you must understand, but my view is that a person spending time acting as a judge for a dog show is less likely to pursue becoming an actual judge.

edit: and as the one below me already alluded to, your statement exists on a physical substrate whilst culture exists abstractly thus invalid

Correlation or causation?

I was under the impression that it wasn't so much that people considered the idea insane, as that they hated Semmelweis and were therefore strenuously opposed to anything associated with him.

> Wolves infected with a common parasite are more likely than uninfected animals to lead a pack, according to an analysis of more than 200 North American wolves1. Infected animals are also more likely to leave their home packs and strike out on their own.

From Wikipedia, Toxoplasmosis Gondii ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasma_gondii ):

> Although under-studied, penguin populations, especially those that share an environment with the human population, are at-risk due to parasite infections, mainly Toxoplasmosis gondii. The main subspecies of penguins found to be infected by T. gondii include wild Magellanic and Galapagos penguins, as well as blue and African penguins in captivity.[78] In one study, 57 (43.2%) of 132 serum samples of Magellanic penguins were found to have T. gondii. The island that the penguin is located, Magdalena Island, is known to have no cat populations, but a very frequent human population, indicating the possibility of transmission.

From Werner Herzog's Encounters at the End of the Earth ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7kdDeGXUjI ):

  HERZOG: Dr. Ainley, is there such thing as insanity among penguins? I try to 
  avoid the definition of insanity or derangement. I don't mean that a penguin
  might believe he or she is Lenin or Napoleon Bonaparte, but could they just go 
  crazy because they've had enough of their colony?

  AINLEY: Well, I've never seen a penguin bashing its head against a rock. They 
  do get disoriented. They end up in places they shouldn't be, a long way from 
  the ocean.

  HERZOG: These penguins are all heading to the open water to the right.
  But one of them caught our eye, the one in the center.
  He would neither go towards the feeding grounds at the edge of the ice,
  nor return to the colony. Shortly afterwards, we saw him heading straight 
  towards the mountains, some 70 kilometers away. Dr. Ainley explained
  that even if he caught him and brought him back to the colony, he would 
  immediately head right back for the mountains. But why?

  One of these disoriented, or deranged, penguins showed up at the New Harbor 
  diving camp, already some 80 kilometers away from where it should be.
  
  The rules for the humans are do not disturb or hold up the penguin. Stand still 
  and let him go on his way. And here, he's heading off into the interior of the 
  vast continent.

  With 5, 000 kilometers ahead of him, he's heading towards certain death.

Listen, you! I was born here. I raised a cloud of children here. My ancestors came over here on the sandwich.

One of my favorite episodes.

I can see how press departments could claim that they’re only doing their job, but it’s potentially unethical and dangerous.

Toxoplasma gondii : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasma_gondii

Risk factors for human infection : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasma_gondii#Immune_respo...

https://wolf.org/headlines/44265/

Sure, why not.

It may have had a similar control group and could be relevant. It could be that individuals with more of the parasite are more likely to become entrepreneurs still.

It's widely known for many years now. Twenty years ago there was a huge report about it on German public radio. The article I looked references research from the seventies.

It's been a strange philosophical point to me that catching a parasite that really wants to be in your cat can alter your personality and unless you are a pregnant woman the medical system ignores it.