Paper Short Abstract:

Toxoplasmosis gondii is a single-celled parasite infecting the brains of nearly 30% of all people in the world today, and it influences how people--and many other mammals-- think, and behave. This talk will explore its influence on culture, and toxoplasmotics as a inter-special folk group.

Paper Abstract:

Nearly 30% of all people in the world live with a single-celled protozoan parasite in their brain called toxoplasma gondii. Domestic cats (in which the parasite spreads sexually, rather than neurologically) are the main vectors of this infection, and evolutionarily speaking, the primary target appears to be rodents. Rodents infected with the parasite tend to be more risk-taking… which tends to provide more meals for cats.

But humans are also very susceptible, and, as in rodents, infected humans tend to display more risk-taking behaviors. Toxoplasmosis has been linked with entrepreneurship, promiscuity, and various sorts of risk-taking ventures in humans. It has even been linked with trends in political beliefs, and physical attractiveness.

The risk-taking behavior engendered by toxoplasmosis produces villains, fools, heroes, and geniuses…all of which are staples in folklore. Toxoplasmosis has profound effects on human behavior, and hence of the wider “human” culture as well. Along with other recent findings (e.g. the influence of the gut microbiome on human thought), the recognition of the role of toxoplasma gondii helps locate human thought, agency, and culture as part of the vast network of life on earth. Further, the group of toxoplasmotics, those who tend to live on the edge, is not confined to the human, but includes several other species as well.

This talk will explore recent findings from medical research on toxoplasmosis, along with implications ranging from the historical to the philosophical in helping to understand toxoplasmosis as an agent and factor in human, and more-than-human, culture.