He's really, really easy to listen to. And very informative. 11/10

This is one of the best TED talks I've ever seen!

"This caterpillar is a head banging zombie body-guard defending the offspring of the creature that killed it" Good design, god. Keep it classy.

When I was very young, I'm almost 50 now, there were older people at a home where my great grandmother lived that would stumble or mumble down the hallways. I wondered about their strange behaviors and asked my great grandma once what was wrong with them. She replied simply "They were touched in the head." I didn't know what that meant so she expanded in kid speak for me. "It means that something is there, touching them in places in their brains that make them act that way." I wondered about that for a while but like a normal kid, forgot all about it, being distracted by rainbows and summer days. Your talk just made all that crashing back, including the smell of that home, the creaking of the wheelchairs, and the shambling, mumbling of the "touched".

I'm sorry officer, a parasite made me do it.

Wow. What a talk. I love parasites now. People like this need to teach. Not the senseless book readers who can't explain a thing, but people who are passionate and who can inspire.

Jeff learning about how to control our minds 10:16

I keep coming back to this talk after years. Yes, this isn't a topic that will immediately influence my life, nor does it suggest mind blowing alternatives for humanity. But the speaker is so. damn. good. at what he does. He has a clear intro, a grasping presentation and a chilling conclusion where he's not trying to convince the audience to believe the same thing that he does, but rather invites to explore possibilities. He's also succinct and has excellent speaking pace as well. What an example of oral presentation.

eat prey, Love. best line on TED talks yet.

One presentation like this every year and the subscription to this channel would already be justified. What an excellent video this is, can't like it enough.

One the few TedTalks I definitely recommend.

"Eat, prey, love" was a brilliant joke!

Damn nature, you scary!

" I've god a red dot on my face now don't I " Haha Watched this talk over maybe four times. Love it.

He made a grisly subject about parasite sounds so poetic! Now that's a true writer.

This is the most brilliant, informative and entertaining talk I've heard in a while. Thumbs up for Mr. Yong!

A most enjoyable and funny Talk about insects and parasites...amazing!

Excellent talk and delivery!

This is one of the best Ted Talks I've seen in a long time

Watched over 10 times now.One of the best TED talks.

How amazing is this chap! I don't even like insects but was throughly entertained - more please!

Ed Yong both funny and smart. Great Talk!

That _Pride and Prejudice_ reference was so smoothly put into a video about parasites. Most impressive.

Never in my life have I seen a talk on the eloquence of the parasite, and to add it was so wonderfully convincing. Great talk!

Wow dude that's a really spacious cricket! Awesome talk.

That... was completely amazing. And very interesting too. :) Good job!

Ed Yong is a brilliant speaker. Funny, clear, and interesting. Bravo.

Toxoplasma Gondii. A very troubling parasite indeed. Once your body starts producing anti bodies to fight Toxoplasma Gondii you become more likely to have Alzheimer's Diseases, Parkinson's Diseases, OCD, and Bipolar. Perhaps if we can somehow genetically modify Toxo into delivering dopamine without the ill effects it brings about, we can have a way of better delivering dopamine to our Parkinson's patients? It's a thought. This talk has been inspiring.

Coincidentally, I've recently being seeing that commercial on youtube about parasites that make you crave certain foods...like things high in sugar.

Absolutely amazing presentation!

Human beings are our own parasites. We, or some minority, always think we should or could or want to have the right to tell other people what to do, and to a large extent many of us don't really care what it might take to bring that about. Look at all the wars and violence that we have. We care more about that than maintaining the planet we live on - obviously. This is a very fascinating talk - great job Ed!

Interesting, amusing and most of all wonderful speach!

One of the best tedtalks I've watched, for sure, and surprisingly not many views

Absolutely amazing! What a stunning talk!

Ed tong is a really good talker

very intelligent talk about awesome bug on bug control...thank you

Captivating and creepy! What a strange and wondrous combination!

What a great talk.

the parasite leaving the cricket fucked me up

Great talk. Masterful rendering of a topic most fascinating.

Informative and well presented talk.

INCREDIBLE! MUST-WATCH TedTalk! This talk funny, fluid and absolutely fascinating. It might be one of my very favorite Ted Talks ever. I'm not sure how accurate it is considering the distant source, but a friend of a friend of a relative who works in public health, told me that the CDC is definitely looking into the ties between Toxo and random acts of violence. It makes sense to me. I think people focus more on the ideology to explain behaviors - than on there being some other initial cause that drives people to the ideological pathways to support and justify the behavior they're being driven to express. So whether it's radical Islam, or White Supremecy or some other crazy 'reason', it's all could all just be a front to support the urges being programmed by such a parasitic invader. Could our main ideological compartments actually be divergent strains of parasitic puppeteers?

Very informative and thoroughly entertaining talk. One of the best TED Talks that educated me on a topic I know nothing about. Thank you Ed Young!

Ed Yong is an incredible writer; I did not know that he is also charismatic. Wow. I planned on buying his book but now I want to get an audio version instead. Either way, I’m sure it’ll be a fascinating read.

Riktigt bra. En skicklig och humoristisk föreläsare.

i like this guy. easy to listen to and mixes in a good amount of humour to keep people interested.

The way this man articulates himself is something we should all strive towards!

Fabulous lecture - great speaker.

An amazing mind, articulate, knowledgeable, funny and quiet humble.

Well that puts the last of us in a new perspective :S

Stuff like this is exactly why I want to go into the field of microbiology.

Great TED Talks! And amazing info and puns :)

Absolutely fascinating! Not only is this one of the most interesting TED talks I have ever seen, the speaker is articulate, engaging and funny. This talk has given me an entirely new theory of human action and reaction. You MUST see this talk!

Entertaining, well spoken and funny!

Such a good and clear speaker

Ed Yong that was amazing!

really well delivered

Excellent talk!

An excellent TED talk. He is a great public speaker.

How often does one get to use the phrase "headbanging zombie bodyguard" in an intellectual talk?

That was really good. Hopes he’s having a nice day

i genuinely love this guy and loved this talk so MUS

He is so enjoyable to listen to! You don't even need to try to make parasites sound interesting, but he does an extraordinary job of it.

this was an awesome talk. concise, precise, and fun! Idk why there would be any thumbs down...

Great presentation

That was really inspiring and informative, i wonder which parasite makes you talk like that, i would want one.

Who knew Zombie Cockroaches could be so interesting? This was really cool.

Amazing, simply amazing, inspiring speech, prolific writer

One of my favorites now

Loved this, seriously considering parasitology now

I am so excited to see him continue this research. Although it may be even more and more disturbing as he makes more of these discoveries, I know his passion will guide him to be able to use his research to benefit us all. I hope it at least makes us all consider the possibilities of individual and mass manipulation existing among humans. Thanks Ed Yong, and keep it up! :)

I love this guy. Very educational and hilarious.

Super interesting facts about parasitic life, some pretty sharp puns, and a guest appearance by a Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal comic? My god...I think this is the perfect TED talk...

captivating talk ed

Wow. Great topic. Great puns. Great talk.

Very intriguing! I wonder what we will learn tomorrow...

Amazing Ted talk

Wow - great talk!! Informative but funny!! This was incredibly interesting..... Hmmm is that my own thoughts or has a parasite made me think this???!!!!!! ;-)

man this guy is really good at this

Good speaker, good topic.

i'm surprised he didn't bring up cordyceps. but still, great talk - better than most, not because of the content but the presentation.

For Mr. Yong: Thank you for a great talk. For the cat haters in the room: As a dog person and the daughter of a cat-hating person, I hated felines most of my life, but when a neighbour's cat appeared one day in my living room, I immediately opened a can of tuna, not knowing that even well-fed cats often do this. I did not touch her and was horrified when she jumped onto the counter. I had never been anywhere near cats or near people who had cats. But if I see a sick or hungry animal, I have to feed it, I have done this since I was a child. Now I love cats for the incredible creatures that they are, much better -in every way that matters to me- than most humans, who are great manipulators and parasites and virulent envenomers, even if they don't live inside your body.

Great talk.

Loved this

Absolutely fabulous

great talk

Maybe on every of those research determining the effects of parasites on human brain they should actually check if they have them.

I love this guy, smart great science writer

A great video!!

If the Parasite is influencing animals behavior, then what is it that is influencing the Parasites behavior? And after this answer? What is the cause of that? And after that answer? What is the cause of that? Where is the start and finish of anything?

Now _that's_ a TED Talk!

wow... did not expect that voice to come out... easy listening

The man's face at the bottom left conner after the 7:40 explanation is priceless

Oh he's punny!

interesting stuff,brilliant!

This is one of the few TED talks I truly enjoyed. Unlike the many talks where the audience is quite reluctant to laugh, and clap for the speaker, this one was great. Very well spoken, and informative. Bravo to Ed, for not coming off as another smug, and elitist speaker that reeks of TED.

Ed is fantastic. His book on the microbiome is as well.

awesome speech

Great presentation, bravo! So much for masters of the universe. All hail Toxoplasma Gondii!

I'm starting to itch now...