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Parasite gives wolves what it takes to be pack leaders

nature.com

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Re: Parasite gives wolves what it takes to be pack leaders

#91

Post by TheBigSalad »

frontman1988 wrote: post #81
meindnoch wrote: post #78

"Risky business: linking Toxoplasma gondii infection and entrepreneurship behaviours across individuals and countries" ( https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30051870/ ) >Among professionals attending entrepreneurship events, T. gondii-positive individuals were 1.8× more likely to have started their own business compared with other attendees (n = 197). Finally, after synthesizing and combining country-level databases on T…

2 billion people already have the Toxoplasma gondii in their brains. If it were to affect humanity is some profound way, we would have already linked it to something more substantial than n=197 studies of correlating success in entrepreneurship to the virus.

Good point. We should stop studying it because we should have known by now.

Re: Parasite gives wolves what it takes to be pack leaders

#92

Post by yesbut »

bsenftner wrote: post #36
yesbut wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good policy. In worker owned enterprises that are run democratically the owner/employees elect their managers from the ranks. They act as manager for a term and then go back to their original position after the next election. Keeps everyone based in reality.

Decades ago, the Boston University Free Press (the alternative views newspaper) was managed in this manner. My buddy ended up running the paper for a year because he was the least political, most liked guy working at the place. He just wanted people to be happy. After a year, he was no longer happy and was glad to give up the job.

Managers, like politicians, should have term limits. The temptation for abuse and favoritism is too strong.

Re: Parasite gives wolves what it takes to be pack leaders

#93

Post by yesbut »

acuozzo wrote: post #83
yesbut wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is the idea that anyone that wants to be a leader probably shouldn't be a leader. These are the types of people who crave being in positions of authority over others. They'll step on anyone they need to in order to get the the top. They might be the leader, but they usually aren't necessarily the types of people that are looking out for the best interests of the people they lead.

> There is the idea that anyone that wants to be a leader probably shouldn't be a leader. These are the types of people who crave being in positions of authority over others. 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 pe…

Solution: Put term limits on democratically elected Dog Show judges, as well as normal judges.

Re: Parasite gives wolves what it takes to be pack leaders

#94

Post by ajmurmann »

frontman1988 wrote: post #81
meindnoch wrote: post #78

"Risky business: linking Toxoplasma gondii infection and entrepreneurship behaviours across individuals and countries" ( https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30051870/ ) >Among professionals attending entrepreneurship events, T. gondii-positive individuals were 1.8× more likely to have started their own business compared with other attendees (n = 197). Finally, after synthesizing and combining country-level databases on T…

2 billion people already have the Toxoplasma gondii in their brains. If it were to affect humanity is some profound way, we would have already linked it to something more substantial than n=197 studies of correlating success in entrepreneurship to the virus.

There are other studies that link Toxoplasmosis to increased risk taking. Here one on increased likelihood of getting into car accidents: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC117239/#__ffn_s....

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.

Re: Parasite gives wolves what it takes to be pack leaders

#95

Post by voltaireodactyl »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #87
pydry wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Things also get interesting if you look at economic and social systems in this context.

Quoted post unavailable.

This is a fascinating and unexpected piece of information. I would be very intrigued to read your source.

Re: Parasite gives wolves what it takes to be pack leaders

#96

Post by sammalloy »

the_af wrote: post #44
s3000 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Culture can be seen as a symbiont for humans. Without infection, we are mere hunter-gatherers.

Culture is emergent behavior or a description of human behavior, it's not an external agent that becomes attached to humans, so the analogy really doesn't work.

Culture is literally an external agent passed on by our family, friends, peers, institutions, companies, and organizations. It is and always has been a meme. The analogy is sound.

Re: Parasite gives wolves what it takes to be pack leaders

#97

Post by upsidesinclude »

the_af wrote: post #44
s3000 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Culture can be seen as a symbiont for humans. Without infection, we are mere hunter-gatherers.

Culture is emergent behavior or a description of human behavior, it's not an external agent that becomes attached to humans, so the analogy really doesn't work.

Hint: check on synonyms for culture

Re: Parasite gives wolves what it takes to be pack leaders

#100

Post by treis »

hindsightbias wrote: post #76
californiadreem wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"There's a secret cabal of beings that are making my life personally miserable" is already a common enough position that cyclically occurs in human history every hundred years or so that I don't think it's a fiction. I don't think it's an untenable premise to suspect that toxoplasmosis pandemics are cyclically-occuring in humans already and are responsible for revolutionary periods and/or imperialism. What people mig…

“Cats began their unique relationship with humans 10,000 to 12,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent, the geographic region where some of the earliest developments in human civilization occurred ” Correlation or causation?

Surely causation. Farmers store crops which attract rodents which attract felines. Wild cats that mind their manners do better in this environment. Eventually wild cats become the kitty cats we know today.
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