What if we're all controlled by parasites?

[Stratego]

[The Dharma Bum]

Humans are so adapted to the presence of vermiform parasites that lack of them causes the body's own defenses to destroy the intestines. So at least on some level we are physically dependent on other species. Whose to say if that doesn't extend to our mental capabilities.

[exploited]

That guy is a fantastic public speaker. Very cool and informative talk.

[Spider]

We just got tickets to TED when its here in a couple weeks. Been looking forward to going to TED conference for years.

Meanwhile, I'm rocking a brain slug like the rest of the cool crowd.

[The Dharma Bum]

This talk raises two interesting points.

1. The parasitic relationship is extremely common in nature.
2. The individual is not actually in control of it's actions, it's personal desires are merely a reflection of the group dynamic.

Soo...

I guess it wouldn't matter if we were parasitized by an entity that we had no chance of defeating or even being aware of. It would be a part of our natural function. Life is a system and like it or not we part of it. Everything is food for something else.

[Stratego]

But what it means is that what we define as personality or culture could really just be dependent on the abundance of a certain type of parasites present in your body.

If that's the case, animals from a certain region should also develop "personalities" similar to people from those region since they'd all have exposure to similar parasites.

[The Dharma Bum]

[Winchester]

I hope I never catch a "Fundie" parasite.

[Philly]

If you rid yourself of the parasite, are you functionally braindead?

[fstarcstar]

I don't think our bodies can be as easily susceptible to parasites as certain animals can like its described in the video. In each of those animals sakes they had a parasite that killed them and used their bodies for other purposes. Our human anatomy is much more complex than the cockroach or cricket, our bodies know when a tiny parasite enters and attempts disruption.

Now, that doesn't deny parasites in humans, just not like they described in the video. They are awful stories of people getting intestinal worms and other disgusting things in the wild that alter our bodies somehow, but not to the point or degree that we see in animals. It might be possible we haven't discovered minor parasites that might cause mental illnesses like schizophrenia or something, but the human body is more resilient to this kind of action.