News of disease outbreaks can warp our brains in strange and subtle ways
Mark Schaller at the University of British Columbia named a set of psychological responses the "behavioural immune system." This system can drive harsher moral judgment and may contribute to xenophobia. I first described for the BBC in April 2020 that humans are hardwired with this system, which can shape psychology at the merest suggestion of illness.
Reminders of infection can lead individuals to become more conformist and risk-averse, and less open-minded towards those who break social norms. The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is currently outpacing response efforts, and concerns about hantavirus linger as new patients test positive for the infection. The body's immune system includes macrophages that engulf pathogens and B-cells and T-cells that create specialized antibodies. Activating this army requires a huge amount of energy, leaving individuals depleted at the end of an illness. The behavioural immune system's most basic mechanism is disgust, causing natural avoidance of anything that looks or smells like it might put one at risk of infection.
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News of disease outbreaks, even those far away, can subtly alter our brains. This
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