‘So you are out in the woods or this pasture, and you see this ant crawling up this blade of grass. It climbs up to the top, and it climbs and it falls and it climbs and it falls and it climbs, trying to stay at the very top of this blade of grass. What is this ant doing? What is it in aid of? What goal is this ant trying to achieve by climbing this blade of grass? What’s in it for the ant?’

This question was posed by the philosopher Daniel Dennett. Before attempting an answer, it would be more advantageous to first understand the life cycle of Dicrocoelium Dendriticum , a parasitic flatworm that lives and breeds in grazing mammals such as cows. It starts off its life as an egg buried within the animal's excrement awaiting its first host, the snail.

Nibbling at the feces, the snail becomes infected but, eventually, its defensive mechanism discharges the parasite (now in its larval stage) in a trail of slime where it lies in wait for its second host, the ant.

In turn, the ant consumes this discharge and soon the parasite proceeds to take control of certain nerves that allows it to 'control' the ant. During the day, the ant functions normally but come evening, the parasite 'drives' it up a blade of grass. Should a strong gush of wind blow it down, the ant will climb up the grass again and again.

This is repeated every evening until an animal comes along and devours the grass on which the ant is on. Via the ant, the parasite is now inside the liver of the animal, where it will spend the remainder of its adult life. This cycle is then repeated when its eggs are laid and distributed through the terminal host's excrement.

With this newfound knowledge, the answer to the question ‘What's in it for the ant?’ becomes clear and obvious, and that answer is a resounding nothing. The irrational and suicidal behaviour of the ant was certainly not self-serving.

Its death was in vain; it brought no benefit either to itself or its colony. The odd climbing pattern it displayed was simply due to the manipulation of the parasite in its attempt to increase its odds of propagating further.

This was a very interesting and clever analogy that was used. Imagine an idea so deceptively simple and so universally appealing. Though the idea in question may be entirely devoid of rationale or reason, it is compelling enough that it completely takes hold of the believer's mind, much like the parasitic flatworm.

It can result in not only the irrational, as demonstrated by the ant, but also by intolerant and violent behaviour towards alternative ideas although the idea being fought for brings no benefit.

In order for this parasitic idea to thrive, it must be inculcated and what better medium than that of a child's mind. Ripe, gullible and na ï ve, a child thinks the world of its parents and will readily accept such ideas with little resistance.

It is not an uncommon sight to find infected parents bringing their children along for protests when, ironically, both will know next to nothing about why exactly they are there. Before long, the same cycle is repeated again when the children become a reflection of their parents.

Events over the past few weeks appear to indicate that Malaysia is on the verge of an epidemic infestation of such parasitic ideas.