Nov 25, 2022 07:20 PM
(This post was last modified: Nov 25, 2022 08:28 PM by C C.)
Parasite gives wolves what it takes to be pack leaders
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03836-9
INTRO: Wolves infected with a common parasite are more likely than uninfected animals to lead a pack, according to an analysis of more than 200 North American wolves1. Infected animals are also more likely to leave their home packs and strike out on their own.
The parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, makes its hosts bold — a mechanism that increases its survival. To reproduce sexually, T. gondii must reach the body of a cat, usually when its host is eaten by one. That becomes much more likely if the parasite alters the host’s behaviour, making it foolhardy. Research results are mixed, but in rodents, infection generally correlates with decreased fear of cats and increased exploratory behaviour. Physical and behavioural changes have also been found in people: testosterone and dopamine production is increased and more risks are taken.
Warm-blooded mammals can catch the parasite by eating an infected animal or ingesting forms of T. gondii shed in the faeces of infected cats. After a period of acute infection, semi-dormant cysts form in muscle and brain tissue, and persist for the rest of the host’s life. Up to one-third of humans might be chronically infected... (MORE - details)
Does kindness get in the way of success?
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20221...of-success
INTRO: We can probably all agree that it is good to be kind, moral to be kind, nice to be kind, but does it lead to success in life? After all, isn't kindness about putting other people's interests first? Doesn't it require self-sacrifice?
Yet consider these well-known people: James Timpson, boss of the Timpson chain of shoe repairers; Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister of New Zealand; and Gareth Southgate, one of the most successful managers that the England men's football team has ever had. All three of them are clearly "winners" in their fields, and yet all put kindness at the heart of their strategies for success.
What they have found is that taking a more compassionate and apparently "softer" approach to business, politics and sports management brings positive results, not just for the benefit of people who work for them, but for their own benefit too. The traditional notion that you have to be ruthless, driven and focussed on number one if you want to achieve success is being discredited.
There's a growing body of scientific evidence that kind people can be winners. In 2020 I was part of a team at the University of Sussex which carried out the biggest study of its kind on public attitudes to kindness. More than 60,000 people from 144 countries chose to fill in an extensive questionnaire called The Kindness Test which was launched on the radio shows I present – All in the Mind on BBC Radio 4 and Health Check on the BBC World Service.
When asked where people saw the most acts of kindness happening, the workplace did rather well, coming third after home and medical setting both as a place where people witnessed kind acts and where kindness was truly valued. So, a place that might have the reputation as cut-throat and impersonal, where people compete for positions, is home to more empathy and consideration than you might think... (MORE - details)
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03836-9
INTRO: Wolves infected with a common parasite are more likely than uninfected animals to lead a pack, according to an analysis of more than 200 North American wolves1. Infected animals are also more likely to leave their home packs and strike out on their own.
The parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, makes its hosts bold — a mechanism that increases its survival. To reproduce sexually, T. gondii must reach the body of a cat, usually when its host is eaten by one. That becomes much more likely if the parasite alters the host’s behaviour, making it foolhardy. Research results are mixed, but in rodents, infection generally correlates with decreased fear of cats and increased exploratory behaviour. Physical and behavioural changes have also been found in people: testosterone and dopamine production is increased and more risks are taken.
Warm-blooded mammals can catch the parasite by eating an infected animal or ingesting forms of T. gondii shed in the faeces of infected cats. After a period of acute infection, semi-dormant cysts form in muscle and brain tissue, and persist for the rest of the host’s life. Up to one-third of humans might be chronically infected... (MORE - details)
Does kindness get in the way of success?
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20221...of-success
INTRO: We can probably all agree that it is good to be kind, moral to be kind, nice to be kind, but does it lead to success in life? After all, isn't kindness about putting other people's interests first? Doesn't it require self-sacrifice?
Yet consider these well-known people: James Timpson, boss of the Timpson chain of shoe repairers; Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister of New Zealand; and Gareth Southgate, one of the most successful managers that the England men's football team has ever had. All three of them are clearly "winners" in their fields, and yet all put kindness at the heart of their strategies for success.
What they have found is that taking a more compassionate and apparently "softer" approach to business, politics and sports management brings positive results, not just for the benefit of people who work for them, but for their own benefit too. The traditional notion that you have to be ruthless, driven and focussed on number one if you want to achieve success is being discredited.
There's a growing body of scientific evidence that kind people can be winners. In 2020 I was part of a team at the University of Sussex which carried out the biggest study of its kind on public attitudes to kindness. More than 60,000 people from 144 countries chose to fill in an extensive questionnaire called The Kindness Test which was launched on the radio shows I present – All in the Mind on BBC Radio 4 and Health Check on the BBC World Service.
When asked where people saw the most acts of kindness happening, the workplace did rather well, coming third after home and medical setting both as a place where people witnessed kind acts and where kindness was truly valued. So, a place that might have the reputation as cut-throat and impersonal, where people compete for positions, is home to more empathy and consideration than you might think... (MORE - details)
