The Sunday Times reports that scientists have found a virus that appears to infect human brains, reducing people’s thinking power including their spatial awareness and attention span (paywalled). The virus, ATCV-1, seems to alter genes governing brain function. “Unexpectedly, we identified DNA sequences of ATCV-1, an algal virus not previously known to infect humans, in oropharyngeal [throat] samples from healthy adults,” said the researchers. “ATCV-1 was associated with a modest but measurable decrease in cognitive functioning.” By using modern bioinformatics analysis, the genes effected were found to be involved in pathways related to dopamine receptor signaling, cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (CDK5) signaling, antigen presentation, immune cell adhesion, and eukaryotic initiation factor 2. Note that dopamine is a central component of many psychiatric conditions."
(Score: 3, Funny) by cafebabe on Tuesday November 11 2014, @06:59AM
I think that I'm a carrier of the stupid virus because I'm surrounded by idiots.
1702845791×2
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Tuesday November 11 2014, @08:43AM
Yes, and their lives is probably happier than yours too.
My neighbor is an idiot: he doesn't have a very mentally challenging job, he spends the little money and free time he has on football matches, beer and car tuning accessories. He can't perform a simple addition without a calculator, and can't write a three-word sentence correctly. He's never read a book, prefers David Guetta to Mozart, and thinks M.C. Escher is a DJ. His wife and kids don't seem much better endowed mentally or culturally
But you know what? His life is probably better than mine.
Sure he ain't rich and can't afford all the things he says he'd like to own, but he genuinely goes through life like he goes through a fog. He never asks himself deep, searching questions. He never worries about the future. He doesn't see the world's problem coming towards him and slowly gnawing at his quality of life. He doesn't see the global Orwellian state this country is slowly becoming. He doesn't understand any of these issues: he doesn't know anything beyond his last paycheck and the latest football results.
In short, he lives the same life the same way my cat does: totally ignorant and oblivious to everything. That's gotta be comfortable. Some days I envy him.
(Score: 2) by Subsentient on Tuesday November 11 2014, @09:48AM
I agree completely. Ignorance is bliss. Find me a genius older than 20 who isn't depressed and isn't a superstar.
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." -Jiddu Krishnamurti
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 11 2014, @01:00PM
I have a 142 iq and was formally tested. I am antisocial so I am no superstar, but I love my life and family. I am also not on medicine/treatment for depression. Your partial sentences are a great example of why I avoid people who think they are smart.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 11 2014, @07:22PM
Which sentence is incomplete?
(Score: 2) by tibman on Tuesday November 11 2014, @03:09PM
The most intelligent person i've ever known went crazy in his mid-20's. Now he "sells dreams for Disney" and has a partner in India. They have business meetings every night. I asked him when they'll start paying him. He said that dreams don't work that way. Having a conversation with him is painful because i feel like his crazy is infecting my mind. Playing board games with him is a lot of fun though. Apparently being crazy doesn't blunt someone's ability to crush you in strategy games. He never goes easy and i never win, lol. Its a sad realization that you'd prefer a game of chance because you are literally not intelligent enough to defeat your opponent (crazy or not).
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 11 2014, @04:17PM
Your cat has the same opinion of you.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 11 2014, @07:17AM
what % of the population has it already infected? is there a heat map by county?
(Score: 2) by cafebabe on Tuesday November 11 2014, @07:31AM
According to the Daily Mail, 44% already have it [dailymail.co.uk].
Yes and the results are worrying [xkcd.com].
1702845791×2
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 11 2014, @09:01AM
>>44% already have it
Isn't that about the percentage that vote conservative?
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 11 2014, @01:40PM
You liberals don't even know your own numbers? Learn to read a map and a key. You are to focused on pushing your ideas instead of learning facts. Good thing you people get fed all your information..like numbers.
(Score: 1) by Raul on Tuesday November 11 2014, @02:20PM
What if i tell you... Stupidity has no political preferences
(Score: 2) by Dunbal on Tuesday November 11 2014, @12:16PM
On the bright side if everyone has it doesn't that mean that the smart people will still be smarter than the rest despite being dumber than before?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 11 2014, @07:58AM
Watch this get blamed for all kinds of issues in the near future. Then watch the anti-vaccine people run in circles after their heads explode!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 11 2014, @08:41AM
Common cold also reduces "cognitive function". Just saying.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 11 2014, @09:59AM
I think all you're "just saying" is that you have the virus, and it's a lethal case.
(Score: 2) by darkfeline on Tuesday November 11 2014, @03:48PM
So catching this virus is like catching the common cold for the rest of your life. Just saying.
Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!
(Score: 2) by mendax on Tuesday November 11 2014, @10:03AM
Who needs a virus when we've got alcohol, pot, and the American educational system and it's steady race to the bottom?
It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.
(Score: 2) by WizardFusion on Tuesday November 11 2014, @10:11AM
For some it's a steady race, for America, it's a sprint.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 11 2014, @12:43PM
For americans, isn't it more of a high speed waddle?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 11 2014, @03:44PM
People who don't drink, smoke, or rely on schooling for education.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Freeman on Tuesday November 11 2014, @04:30PM
Each one of those requires a person to take do something to reduce their intelligence. A virus that reduces your intelligence requires you to take action to avoid being infected. It's a lot easier to accidentally get a virus than to accidentally smoke pot.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by Geotti on Wednesday November 12 2014, @01:56AM
Pot doesn't make stupid, pot makes you care about details (sometimes^W usually more than necessary).
(Score: 4, Funny) by Telecommando on Tuesday November 11 2014, @12:10PM
That explains last week's election results.
(Score: 2) by mendax on Tuesday November 11 2014, @10:32PM
I think this virus has been in the wild in Italy for a long time. The idiots in the court that convicted those Italian scientists in the first place are definitely affected by it. But so are the scientists. They should have known that making such a prediction could have led to this nonsense in the first place.
It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.
(Score: 2) by arslan on Tuesday November 11 2014, @11:32PM
well and the cure too.. since their appeals court acquitted them.. so not all bad... Here is oz we are seeing a rapid spread of this virus as our politicians are stepping up their effort to "Americanize" us with the American Dream. The new one, not the one from yester years, where we are increasingly spied on, our liberty slowly eroded, the police militarized, the news networks used as propaganda platforms and our land and jobs being "globalized".