Parasites Makes Us Dumber or Sexier

odie_q writes "It has long been known that the Toxoplasma gondii parasite alters its host's behavior, but now it seems the way it alters it depends on the sex of the host. From the article: 'A common parasite can increase a women's attractiveness to the opposite sex but also make men more stupid, an Australian researcher says ... Infected men have lower IQs, achieve a lower level of education and have shorter attention spans. They are also more likely to break rules and take risks, be more independent, more anti-social, suspicious, jealous and morose, and are deemed less attractive to women. On the other hand, infected women tend to be more outgoing, friendly, more promiscuous, and are considered more attractive to men compared with non-infected controls.'"

Comments

Re:So long, Saddam you worthless shit

[Scoria]

Clearly, this is a textbook case of toxoplasmosis. You should keep your hands out of the litter box.

Ah HA!

[Terminal Saint]

So THAT's what happened to me. Suddenly everything makes sense, and it's all Smokey's fault.

Beer == Parasite ???

[theshowmecanuck]

'A common parasite can increase a women's attractiveness to the opposite sex but also make men more stupid,...

I get the same parasite whenever I go to the pub.

Re:Jesus, women are lucky

[TapeCutter]

"Is there any parasite that makes MEN more attractive?

Yes, but she will take all your stuff.

Written by a woman?

[Shadow-isoHunt]

"A common parasite can increase a women's attractiveness to the opposite sex but also make men more stupid"
What do you mean by more stupid?

Re:Where can I get it?

[eugene_roux]

You've already got it. That's why she's pepper-spraying you...

Marketing challenge

[OriginalArlen]

...infected women tend to be more outgoing, friendly, more promiscuous, and are considered more attractive to men

Perhaps it's just me, but my first thought after reading the summary was that the best and brightest the world of cosmetics marketing has to offer are probably working on the advertising campaign right now. "New, from L'Oreal: toxoplasmosis, the only parasite derived from cat shit that's /guaranteed/ to make you MORE ATTRACTIVE to the opposite sex. Because you're worth it!"...

Given the crap they already get women to shell out fifty quid for a couple of ounces, parasite-infected cat shit would be a relatively easy sell.

Great Pickup Line

[Joebert]

Damn you're sexy, you have parasites don't you ?

I need to

[fireslack]

Get my wife a cat!