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Parasite Correlated With World Cup Success
mahiskali writes "A parasite commonly found in cats, Toxoplasma gondii, has an unnerving relation to World Cup victories by country. (This parasite was discussed here twice in 2006.) Toxo can be found in almost every type of mammal, from rats to humans. The overall goal of the parasite is to end up in a feline stomach, which is the only place it can reproduce. In other mammals, humans for example, the parasite heads for the brain. It is estimated that nearly 1/3 of the human population has a latent Toxo infection, with individual countries having infection rates varying from 6% (Korea) to 92% (Ghana). Countries with greater incidence of this parasitic infection in their populations tend to win more World Cups than those without. The article, written by a Stanford University neuroscientist, goes on to try out various rationales for such a correlation, ranging from increased testosterone to increased dissent of authority — all symptoms of a Toxo infection. Now we just need to find a parasite that causes an inability to referee properly, and we'll have this whole World Cup business all sorted out."
Sorry for shooting for the obvious, but the old trope about correlation and causation seems exactly in order here.
We've just come back from Tommy's funeral and you are talking about a skag deal?
If anything the UEFA cup should be called the World Cup because players from all over the world are in the European Leagues.
I know they call it the World Series because the best players in the world come to the MLB and all that, it's a dumb name for a series.
How many countries have a serious interest in Baseball? US, Canada, Mexico, Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic, RoK and Japan, that's pretty much it.
The MLB series should be called the Commissioner's Series.
Lots of diseases and parasites that flourish in the less-developed countries have been wiped out (or nearly so) in more-developed countries. There are more less-developed countries in FIFA than there are developed countries. So the correlation should probably hold true for malaria and other parasites, as well as for things like education and poverty.
Edith Keeler Must Die
The Netherlands is less developed? Germany is less developed?
Tale a look at the Semis group, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Uruguay.
This parasite is quite abundant in the more developed nations.
... And you'd be skewing the results another way. Part of the thing is watching good teams play. When thinking about an exciting world cup match, "North Korea vs Uzbekistan" does not come to mind. Good teams mostly come from Europe, or South America. Granted, the level of play in the last few world cups has been really shoddy, but still, using the 'let's assign slots using only population metrics' is completely absurd.
"I think it would be a good idea!"
Gandhi, about Internet Security
I thought the divisions were based on nations, not populations. Or are you suggesting China should get three teams?
God invented whiskey so the Irish would not rule the world.
Still less boring than baseball.
Cricket. Now that's a dull sport! In the words of Robin Williams, "It's like baseball on Mandrax." At least baseball doesn't go for FIVE WHOLE DAYS with no result.
Ahh - My eye!
The doctor said I'm not supposed to get Slashdot in it!
Not saying we need to get into a pissing match or anything, but I think it's always best to take "World" or "Universe" or whatever with more than a grain of salt whenever it's used.
FIFA has more national members than the UN. More than 200 teams from all around the world competed for this years world cup. Apart from the Olympics, it is difficult to imagine any sporting event more appropriately tagged as "World" than this. There is certainly no single sport which attracts anywhere near the level of support football does, even if you count out the dark areas of Earth (USA/Can, India/Pakistan, Australia/NZ).
Why do you hate reality?
Better to be despised for too anxious apprehensions, than ruined by too confident a security. --Edmund Burke
"It's not really a World Cup, it's a European-South American Cup with a couple countries from other continents invited."
What makes you say that? Because the bulk of the entries come from Europe and South America? Or because that is where the winners come from, because they play the best football? The World Cup is open to all nations who ware willing to play by FIFA rules, meaning FIFA rules of the game and no (major) political interference with the tournament. In fact, I think FIFA would love it if more Asian countries put forth serious entries and improved their level of play. The increasingly strong representation of Africa in recent years has been welcomed by all, and fans around the world enjoyed seeing Ghana defeat the USA and battle Uruguay to a shoot-out, in a game they should have won. That is not to mention that both Japan and South Korea advanced past group play, Australia missed only missed out on goal differential, New Zealand were not beaten, and two CONCACAF representatives, USA and Mexico (not Honduras), faired okay.
It is a World Cup, and open to all countries with a team good enough to earn a spot by winning some qualifying matches and showing a dedication to and respect for the beautiful game. Bangladesh or Cambodia should not be handed a ticket to Brazil in 2014 just so Asia will have more teams, they have to earn it by competing and succeeding. More competitive play could garner more regional teams in the final tournament. Until then, sorry.
This is a hacked account, for which the owner can not be held responsible.
This could be balanced if we did one of two things: Treat the European Union as 1 slot the same way we treat the American Union as 1 slot. -or- 25 slots for the EU states and 50 slots for the US states.
Except for the fact that the 'American Union' is actually one country, and the European Union is not. Should we start splitting up the EU member nations by state/province too? Or perhaps you just made this comment because the US is a large nation. Hey, even though Canada doesn't qualify, we need to split them up, too. Russia, too big, let's start treating them as separate smaller states. China and India too. Hey, this is fun!
Heh. The rules of curling are actually pretty simple. It's mostly like bocce/petanque on ice, with bigger rocks that nobody in their right mind tries to throw. The strategies and techniques for curling however, are more complex.
Laissez lire, et laissez danser; ces deux amusements ne feront jamais de mal au monde. - Voltaire
Outside of the EU they do not longer think of the individual states that much. The problem is that Europeans, in general, fail to see their importance in the world as _Europeans_.
Now, I wouldn't mind seeing a European team, but practicalities prevent this from happening except for maybe some exhibition game. Some states are so devolved that they field several teams, like for instance the UK (which most people outside of UK think as one country, but is actually 4 countries under one flag), where each of 4 countries in the UK have their own team.
"Civis Europaeus sum!"
Is Great Britain a country?
"The body may heal, but the mind is not always so resilient." -- Deus Ex: Human Revolution