Hey guys, I have always wondered if my hypothesis for a biological mind weapon is plausible. I want to briefly share the bones of the argument:
Goal: Influence the cognitive thinking, or other mental faculties of a human being, including emotions, fight or flight responses, distort or
delude memories, activate or deactivate phobias, plant ideas, reprogram ethics or well endowed thoughts/beliefs, as well as all other cognition in the
brain.
How: There is a common brain parasite that is only able to reproduce in cats, but can live in most warmblooded animals, including humans.
Another common host to this brain-parasite (
Toxoplasma Gondii) is, you probably guessed it,
mice.
Here's the interesting part: The mice who have contracted the parasite are less scared of cats than mice who don't have it. Once the parasite has
infected the mouse, it works inside the brain of the mouse to make it more likely to be eaten, which enables the organism to reproduce, thus
completing its life cycle.
Toxoplasma Gondii make mice think cats are safe
One way of looking at this is that the Toxoplasma gondii and the cat have developed a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship, where the cat's
parasite makes slaves out of its food.
Ok, not slaves like the kind Dracula makes out of his victims, but there is indeed a certain form of control over the preys mind. A parasite that's
common to both the cat and mouse, causes the mouse to think it will be ok to hang out around a hungry cat. That is a symbiotic relationship where the
cat spreads an organism that infects the cats food to make them more readily available for consumption. (Giving yourself up as food for another
predator sounds like slavery to me.)
Now the reason I say the mouse is slave to the cat is because the cat is unaffected by the parasite (which was also said to be true of humans, until
recent studies suggested Toxoplasma gondii can trigger schizophrenia, so perhaps there may be an affect on a cats mind as well).
Link between Toxoplasma Gondii and schizophrenia, as well as schizophrenic symptoms
The question is, can you genetically modify, breed, or construct a Toxoplasma gondii variant that will change the way humans think? The answer is
undoubtedly yes, because the organism has already proven it can do so. But can you modify it to affect decision making, physical senses, thoughts,
morals, and hopefully something as specific as "Whats your favorite color, red or blue?" To which you program the answer in the genetics of the
organism, infect the person with that mutation, then let the weapon go to work.
Now, I'm not a biologist, so how feasible this idea is, is beyond me. What I do know is that nature might have already laid the foundations for mind
control. I'm suggesting building upon that foundation, copying it, or perhaps just using it as an example for a completely man-made version.
The idea of using an organism to influence peoples thoughts, via its activity in the brain, is very plausible. There are already cases where
Toxoplasma Gondii is thought to have triggered schizophrenia, so how far fetched is it to suggest with the right mutations, Toxoplasma Gondii will
trigger preprogrammed responses to events, questions, situations, etc.
What makes this weapon especially effective is its non-lethality, covertness, and potential for large scale production at the cost of nothing more
than an incubation chamber. The mind-slaving organism could be used to infect entire populations, or single individuals.
I'll let you ponder the implications for yourself. Please feel free to share your thoughts or rebuttals.