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| Magicicada (Public Domain) |
Ever since (and long before) George Orwell’s 1984 was published, people have feared being brainwashed by external forces.
But what if brainwashing is a much more intimate affair? What if it’s been occurring from within right along?
This has been the plight of so-called “zombie cicadas.” These insects are often infected with a “parasitic fungus that takes over their brains.” This Massospora fungus produces chemicals that behaviorally influence the host. In other words, this fungus causes cicadas to act in the parasites’ best interest, rather than in their own.
But these are just insects, you say. Surely this can never occur within humans! Yet scientists now know that the countless microorganisms within each of our bodies do indeed influence human psychology. It therefore behooves us to encourage mutually-beneficial relationships, rather than parasitic ones.
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