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Paul, Parasites, and the Prize
I haven't blogged on here since the last World Cup, but the superstition and science behind the Greatest Sporting Event in the World, have brought me back into the More Fantasticness fold.
First, Deutchland watched as Paul, the "Oracle Octopus," made his prediction for tomorrow's Germany-Spain match. Although Paul has been correct for the other German matches in this tournament, I still think Germany will prevail tomorrow (I've been amazed by the young German team's 4-goal games, even if they make the second half of each match boring).
Second, the Toxoplasma gondii parasite is oftentimes mentioned in the same breath as schizophrenia, but there may be a tie between Toxo prevalence in a country's population and the success of its football team in the World Cup tournament. Spain and Germany are running neck and neck if this is predictive of tomorrow's game; 44% of Espana's population has the bug, while 43% of Germany's population is infected. I love the idea of brain-altering parasites and the World Cup, because it gives the sport a sort of zombie-inflected edge.
Comments (2)
Such a creepy idea, but I like the idea of extending it to encompass more brain parasites. I wish we had access to some of the underlying data---I can't find out what the Toxo rate is in India!
Posted on Jul-07-2010 | Link
I am really against capital punishment, but people like this make me want to see public hangings brought back. http://www.comeondvd.co.uk/
Posted on Feb-28-2013 | Link