The Speculist

Cat Scat Fever

I meant to link to this yesterday, but ran out of time. Randall Parker has the lowdown on a virus that people contract from their cats, and which has behavior-modifying properties. T. gondii originally evolved as virus infecting rats, to the benefit of felines:

The minds of infected rats are subtly altered so that they become less able to avoid getting captured and eaten by cats. Cat feces that are eaten by rats serve as a way to spread the disease to rats that the cats can then eventually capture and eat.

Randall concludes:

Women who want to have children should probably give away Fluffy to post-menopausal women who show signs of already being promiscuous.

But what about the threat to Western Civilization? Cats are making our women less trusthworthy and more superficial while they are making men look scruffy loners who are unwilling to follow rules. If some terrorist group was releasing pathogens that had this effect we'd be hunting them down and killing them without mercy (assuming the FBI and CIA could find them - the anthrax mail case may never be solved). But since kitties are fluffy, make cute purring sounds, and occasionally rub up against people's legs they are considered adorable by many. This leaves them free to operate in plain sight to undermine Western Civilization while every single one of them affects an air of total indifference and disinterest.

Well, now hold on a minute, here. What exactly does this thing do to people again? It makes men "scruffy loners" and it makes women more "easy going" and "warmhearted." They get more interested in their appearance, have more friends, and are more likely to fool around.

Randall, my friend, I don't think you're going to find too many guys willing to join you in the fight against this thing.