

Cat Parasite may affect our Psychology (2006) - jbooth
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/DyeHard/story?id=2288095&page=1

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nollidge
Article headline is ridiculously overstated. How about: "Cat Parasite Has Some
Odd Psychological Effects In People Who Are Infected By It, And So Probably
Had Some Minor Influence On Cultural Evolution, Which Isn't Really All That
Surprising, If You Think About It".

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devin
Ugh. I wish this myth would go away. I've encountered so many people that have
heard of this and have no idea how credible it is.

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Tichy
If you have no idea, why do you call it a myth? Sounds as if you have the idea
that it is only a myth.

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Confusion
He meant that the 'people that have heard this' have no idea. I'm not sure
whether his sentence can be properly interpreted as such, but even if it's
grammatically dubious, the intention is clear (to me). He probably knows that
the effect is vastly overstated in popular accounts, as other commenters have
pointed out.

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nooneelse
I think the labeling of it as a cat parasite is interesting but misses the
mark a bit. By messing with rat brains it helps feed cats. From the cat's
perspective, it can sound more like a symbiotic relationship.

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NathanKP
I need independent verification before I can believe such an improbable study.

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sausagefeet
<http://edge.org/3rd_culture/sapolsky09/sapolsky09_index.html>

An interesting video interview with Robert Sapolsky on Toxo

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intellectronica
More on that in this episode of the wonderful radiolab:

<http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/episodes/2009/09/25>

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jpablo
I knew it. I'm getting rid of that little beast right now!

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zargon
duplicate

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=789517>

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itistoday
The title of the article (not this post) is outrageous! "Cat Parasite Affects
_Everything_ We Feel and Do"

Even the content of the article itself disagrees with the title:

 _"He's not suggesting that it's a big player in cultural evolution. Lots of
other things are more powerful, ranging from geography to weather to the
availability of natural resources."_

And that's the "popular account". Consider what the actual research paper
probably said. Reminds me of this comic:

[http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/files/2009/05...](http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/files/2009/05/phd051809s.gif)

Side comment: This is a bit of old news (2006).

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nollidge
Or this comic:

[http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1623](http://www.smbc-
comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1623)

