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The question is why some humans find house cats fascinating and abide them. I hypothesize that parasites affecting the human nervous system (and possibly the f

The question is why some humans find house cats fascinating and abide them. I hypothesize that parasites affecting the human nervous system (and possibly the feline one) are in the causal chain. Toxoplasmosis is not necessarily the parasite at issue, but it could be; and it serves as proof of an organism that can be transmitted between humans and house cats, and also that is known to cause behavioral changes (albeit in nonhuman mammals).

rmunn 1y ago
You don't have to get that complicated to look for the reason. It's the purring. I am just one data point and you'd need to find others, but I find cats that purr loudly much more appealing than cats whose purring is so quiet that it's hard to hear. I believe if you were to survey other people who keep cats as pets, you'd find most would agree with that.
- wrp 1y ago
  When I was a kid, my family got a kitten and a puppy at the same time. There were no other domestic animals around, so the two had only each other for socialization. The dog apparently observed how much attention the cat got when it purred, so it developed a habit of making a strange guttural noise when it was petted. We figured it was trying to purr.
topspin 1y ago
> The question is why I've had one or more around most of my life. They're fun to play with and comedic. They genuinely like their people. They're simultaneously willful and cooperative. They have many habits and preferences, and each one is distinct. They're highly communicative if you understand their motives and language. If you need to control rodents they are extremely effective and earn their keep. There is nothing more endearing than a proud cat eagerly bringing its catch home to share with its pride. Some people are freaked out by this, not realizing that there is no higher praise a cat can express, hunting on your behalf. So many dimensions. If a cat likes you it actually likes you: there is no lie in them. All that said, I'm glad house cats are small. :)
- TheOtherHobbes 1y ago
  Cats all do the same things. But they have very clearly defined unique personalities, with big variations in intelligence and other qualities. Also, relaxing. Having a dependent of any kind sleeping soundly close to you implies safety and reassurance in a very primal and satisfying way. And cats sleep far more than humans do. Even when they're not active they're nice to have around. I'm not convinced by the "tamed predator" hypothesis. I think if it were true we'd consider them exciting but stressful - like crime fiction. Clearly we don't. No one sleeps next to a violent crime novel for relaxation. In fact cat owners often get cognitive dissonance when Furry McPurrFace goes out and eviscerates a bird for breakfast. We feel sorry for the bird, but we don't seriously think "That could have been me. Or one of the kids."
  - WalterBright 1y ago
    > and eviscerates a bird And there we have what really happened to the dinosaurs.
- WalterBright 1y ago
  Occasionally The Cat would look at me with those "I wish you were smaller" eyes.
- ChrisMarshallNY 1y ago
  A friend once said that, if we suddenly shrank to six inches high, our dog would still listen to our orders, but our cat would try to kill us.
ge96 1y ago
My cat sleeps in the same bed as me and greets me when I wake up
bryanrasmussen 1y ago
And in the article “They were…continually caressing the cats, and holding them up for the admiration of their companions on shore.” the admiration of the companions on shore - that is some particularly quick acting distance obliterating parasites
thinkingemote 1y ago
Gwern gives his opinion (I'm inclined to agree but I really love the idea that it could be the reason!) "The Toxoplasma literature is dogged by small effect sizes and associated pathologies like p-hacking, extensive confounding (in addition to the obvious reverse causation), poor replication (every study seemingly finding a Toxo correlation in something else), and lack of any clear mechanism for how Toxo could be doing anything in a primate species so evolutionarily distant from its rodent target. So, as entertaining as it would be if cat-lovers were being brainwashed by a mouse parasite futilely attempting to get them eaten by their pet cat, I doubt that any effect exists at all—much less that it is the explanation."
latexr 1y ago
> I hypothesize that parasites affecting the human nervous system (…) Toxoplasmosis Yeah yeah, I read that same article fifteen years ago. I don’t buy it. For one, there are many other symptoms besides behavioural changes, so we’d have way more known cases of infections. For another, those parasites aren’t transmissible over the internet and thus do not explain the whole of human fascination with cats. It’s a much more plausible explanation that cats are interesting and reliable companions, with distinct personalities and preferences.

rmunn 1y ago

You don't have to get that complicated to look for the reason. It's the purring. I am just one data point and you'd need to find others, but I find cats that purr loudly much more appealing than cats whose purring is so quiet that it's hard to hear. I believe if you were to survey other people who keep cats as pets, you'd find most would agree with that.

wrp 1y ago
When I was a kid, my family got a kitten and a puppy at the same time. There were no other domestic animals around, so the two had only each other for socialization. The dog apparently observed how much attention the cat got when it purred, so it developed a habit of making a strange guttural noise when it was petted. We figured it was trying to purr.

topspin 1y ago

> The question is why I've had one or more around most of my life. They're fun to play with and comedic. They genuinely like their people. They're simultaneously willful and cooperative. They have many habits and preferences, and each one is distinct. They're highly communicative if you understand their motives and language. If you need to control rodents they are extremely effective and earn their keep. There is nothing more endearing than a proud cat eagerly bringing its catch home to share with its pride. Some people are freaked out by this, not realizing that there is no higher praise a cat can express, hunting on your behalf. So many dimensions. If a cat likes you it actually likes you: there is no lie in them. All that said, I'm glad house cats are small. :)

TheOtherHobbes 1y ago
Cats all do the same things. But they have very clearly defined unique personalities, with big variations in intelligence and other qualities. Also, relaxing. Having a dependent of any kind sleeping soundly close to you implies safety and reassurance in a very primal and satisfying way. And cats sleep far more than humans do. Even when they're not active they're nice to have around. I'm not convinced by the "tamed predator" hypothesis. I think if it were true we'd consider them exciting but stressful - like crime fiction. Clearly we don't. No one sleeps next to a violent crime novel for relaxation. In fact cat owners often get cognitive dissonance when Furry McPurrFace goes out and eviscerates a bird for breakfast. We feel sorry for the bird, but we don't seriously think "That could have been me. Or one of the kids."
- WalterBright 1y ago
  > and eviscerates a bird And there we have what really happened to the dinosaurs.
WalterBright 1y ago
Occasionally The Cat would look at me with those "I wish you were smaller" eyes.
ChrisMarshallNY 1y ago
A friend once said that, if we suddenly shrank to six inches high, our dog would still listen to our orders, but our cat would try to kill us.

ge96 1y ago

My cat sleeps in the same bed as me and greets me when I wake up

bryanrasmussen 1y ago

And in the article “They were…continually caressing the cats, and holding them up for the admiration of their companions on shore.” the admiration of the companions on shore - that is some particularly quick acting distance obliterating parasites

thinkingemote 1y ago

Gwern gives his opinion (I'm inclined to agree but I really love the idea that it could be the reason!) "The Toxoplasma literature is dogged by small effect sizes and associated pathologies like p-hacking, extensive confounding (in addition to the obvious reverse causation), poor replication (every study seemingly finding a Toxo correlation in something else), and lack of any clear mechanism for how Toxo could be doing anything in a primate species so evolutionarily distant from its rodent target. So, as entertaining as it would be if cat-lovers were being brainwashed by a mouse parasite futilely attempting to get them eaten by their pet cat, I doubt that any effect exists at all—much less that it is the explanation."

latexr 1y ago

> I hypothesize that parasites affecting the human nervous system (…) Toxoplasmosis Yeah yeah, I read that same article fifteen years ago. I don’t buy it. For one, there are many other symptoms besides behavioural changes, so we’d have way more known cases of infections. For another, those parasites aren’t transmissible over the internet and thus do not explain the whole of human fascination with cats. It’s a much more plausible explanation that cats are interesting and reliable companions, with distinct personalities and preferences.