T. gandii and its lifecycle are not in the scope of evolutionary psychology, though. It
actually reproduces (sexually) in cat gut and the (cysts of the) host animal
actually need to be eaten by a cat (or other host). I agree that EP can lead to dangerous, political, and moralistic ways of thinking.
But the idea that parasites have lifecycles and incentive to survive and reproduce does not deserve such criticism. It's mainstream biology. Toxoplasmosis is a real thing that really affects behavior in wild mice. Read it on Wikipedia.
> https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasma_gondii
>Toxoplasma gondii infection in mice lowers general anxiety, increases explorative behaviors and surprisingly increases a general loss of aversion to predators (without selectivity toward cats).
Whether toxoplasmosis causes suicidal ideation in humans is less clear and more speculative, as you argued. I agree. But the mode of parasite transmission, assuming a psychological effect exists in humans, would indeed be Alice being eaten by a cat and then Bob touching cat shit.
Here is a diagram of the known lifecycle: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasma_gondii#/media/Fil...
But the idea that parasites have lifecycles and incentive to survive and reproduce does not deserve such criticism. It's mainstream biology. Toxoplasmosis is a real thing that really affects behavior in wild mice. Read it on Wikipedia.
> https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasma_gondii
>Toxoplasma gondii infection in mice lowers general anxiety, increases explorative behaviors and surprisingly increases a general loss of aversion to predators (without selectivity toward cats).
Whether toxoplasmosis causes suicidal ideation in humans is less clear and more speculative, as you argued. I agree. But the mode of parasite transmission, assuming a psychological effect exists in humans, would indeed be Alice being eaten by a cat and then Bob touching cat shit.
Here is a diagram of the known lifecycle: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasma_gondii#/media/Fil...