5 ms·

If it makes people kinky, I applaud it. Bravo, Toxoplasma, nice work.

by JulianMorrison 10y ago

taneq 10y ago
But it makes people less kinky even though it makes them enjoy being submissive in bed more.
- throwanem 10y ago
  That's not exactly what the study is saying, which seems rather to be that it makes people more kinky, but less likely to try to seek out partners interested in the same things they are. That, along with the fact that the authors don't merely infer or assume latent toxo in their subjects but have actually observed it, is one of the reasons I find this study interesting. That it should make people less likely to seek out outré sexual adventure seems strongly counter-intuitive in light of the increased risk-taking behavior generally supposed to correlate with the infection, and that is at the very least curious.
  - Zarkonnen 10y ago
    Yes! I was confused by this, too. Everything else I've read about toxoplasma has stated that in humans, it increases risky (or risky-feeling) behaviour like motorcycling or sky diving. But an infection that makes people more sexually submissive - that reads like the plot of a really silly piece of sci-fi porn.
    - throwanem 10y ago
      Or a subplot in a Peter Watts novel. Guy goes all kinds of places.
  - taneq 10y ago
    > In agreement with our a priori hypothesis, infected subjects are more often aroused by their own fear, danger, and sexual submission although they practice more conventional sexual activities than Toxoplasma-free subjects. We suggest that the later changes can be related to a decrease in the personality trait of novelty seeking in infected subjects, which is potentially a side effect of increased concentration of dopamine in their brain. This seems to be saying that they're more conventional in what they actually get up to (which I'm interpreting as being less kinky), even though they're more turned on by being in a threatened/submissive position. Maybe they do seek out sexual adventures but are just more vanilla when they get down to it?
    - throwanem 10y ago
      I don't know; that sounds sort of like a distinction without a difference. If someone who fantasizes all over the place but has vanilla sex isn't kinky, what's someone who fantasizes about sleeping with guys but stays faithful to the woman he married? Is the thought of a unicorn a real thought?
casebycase 10y ago
>infected subjects are more often aroused by their own fear, danger, and sexual submission although they practice more conventional sexual activities than Toxoplasma-free subjects It is not making people "kinky" or adventurous. It is making them more reserved than the non-infected. Maybe because sexual desire caused by a brain infection feels uncomfortable and troubling? We can only speculate.
- throwanem 10y ago
  Why would it feel different from sexual desire originating in any other cause?
  - casebycase 10y ago
    Why wouldn't it? A shallow compulsion might be good enough for mice, but troubling for humans who are used to experiencing more depth. It could be something more like OCD. There are people with "homosexual OCD" who aren't gay but who are obsessed with and troubled by the idea that they might be: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/homosexual-ocd-straight-men-fear-gay/story?id=22589452 http://abcnews.go.com/Health/homosexual-ocd-straight-men-fea...
    - throwanem 10y ago
      But that doesn't seem to be a parallel case, because, per the article, they generally do not actually experience the desire in question.
      - pessimizer 10y ago
        I don't know if that's a concrete enough distinction. The experience of desire is a very abstract theory-theory concept. What they report is distress that they may be experiencing the desire in question, which they are usually observed not acting on, but express fear that they might.
        throwanem 10y ago

If it makes people kinky, I applaud it. Bravo, Toxoplasma, nice work.

taneq 10y ago

But it makes people less kinky even though it makes them enjoy being submissive in bed more.

throwanem 10y ago
That's not exactly what the study is saying, which seems rather to be that it makes people more kinky, but less likely to try to seek out partners interested in the same things they are. That, along with the fact that the authors don't merely infer or assume latent toxo in their subjects but have actually observed it, is one of the reasons I find this study interesting. That it should make people less likely to seek out outré sexual adventure seems strongly counter-intuitive in light of the increased risk-taking behavior generally supposed to correlate with the infection, and that is at the very least curious.
- Zarkonnen 10y ago
  Yes! I was confused by this, too. Everything else I've read about toxoplasma has stated that in humans, it increases risky (or risky-feeling) behaviour like motorcycling or sky diving. But an infection that makes people more sexually submissive - that reads like the plot of a really silly piece of sci-fi porn.
  - throwanem 10y ago
    Or a subplot in a Peter Watts novel. Guy goes all kinds of places.
- taneq 10y ago
  > In agreement with our a priori hypothesis, infected subjects are more often aroused by their own fear, danger, and sexual submission although they practice more conventional sexual activities than Toxoplasma-free subjects. We suggest that the later changes can be related to a decrease in the personality trait of novelty seeking in infected subjects, which is potentially a side effect of increased concentration of dopamine in their brain. This seems to be saying that they're more conventional in what they actually get up to (which I'm interpreting as being less kinky), even though they're more turned on by being in a threatened/submissive position. Maybe they do seek out sexual adventures but are just more vanilla when they get down to it?
  - throwanem 10y ago
    I don't know; that sounds sort of like a distinction without a difference. If someone who fantasizes all over the place but has vanilla sex isn't kinky, what's someone who fantasizes about sleeping with guys but stays faithful to the woman he married? Is the thought of a unicorn a real thought?

casebycase 10y ago

>infected subjects are more often aroused by their own fear, danger, and sexual submission although they practice more conventional sexual activities than Toxoplasma-free subjects It is not making people "kinky" or adventurous. It is making them more reserved than the non-infected. Maybe because sexual desire caused by a brain infection feels uncomfortable and troubling? We can only speculate.

throwanem 10y ago
Why would it feel different from sexual desire originating in any other cause?
- casebycase 10y ago
  Why wouldn't it? A shallow compulsion might be good enough for mice, but troubling for humans who are used to experiencing more depth. It could be something more like OCD. There are people with "homosexual OCD" who aren't gay but who are obsessed with and troubled by the idea that they might be: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/homosexual-ocd-straight-men-fear-gay/story?id=22589452 http://abcnews.go.com/Health/homosexual-ocd-straight-men-fea...
  - throwanem 10y ago
    But that doesn't seem to be a parallel case, because, per the article, they generally do not actually experience the desire in question.
    - pessimizer 10y ago
      I don't know if that's a concrete enough distinction. The experience of desire is a very abstract theory-theory concept. What they report is distress that they may be experiencing the desire in question, which they are usually observed not acting on, but express fear that they might.
      - throwanem 10y ago