
Can cannibalism lead to disease resistance? (2018) - areoform
https://blogs.agu.org/sciencecommunication/2018/07/10/brains-for-breakfast-can-cannibalism-lead-to-disease-resistance/
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scardine
An honest title should be "Can cannibalism promote resistance to cannibalism-
induced diseases?" \- which most people would guess since evolution will
promote survival of the disease-resistant lineages.

The current click-bait title implies cannibalism could improve resistance to
disease in general.

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owens99
Yes, or "Can disease lead to disease resistance?"

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whatshisface
The title is a bit of a misphrasing, cannibalism didn't give anybody
resistance, it just killed everyone that didn't have it.

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staticautomatic
Then the surviving population would be resistant. That's how evolution works.

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whatshisface
If Bill Gates killed every person in New York that didn't have a bike, would
it be accurate to say that he gave every New Yorker a bike?

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staticautomatic
No, but it would be accurate to say that he was exerting selective pressure on
people to have bikes.

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foobar_
Far more efficient than burying people and wasting all the land.

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sosborn
> wasting all the land

The waste exists only because we deem those locations as sacred. Otherwise,
burying is the most efficient use of resources.

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foobar_
How? I don't think human bodies are mineral rich.

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sosborn
It isn’t about minerals. You become food for the critters and microorganisms
and your resources are placed back into the natural cycle.

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foobar_
But ... there's 50 kg of meat for an average person. Should be good for a
whole week!

