It is not pollution when it is the desirable outcome.

It isn't like the relevant environment — the set of Internet forums — somehow predates human influence; it is nothing but the sum of human influence.

Cat pictures at least add joy and mirth, and are driven by real people without outside motivation.

If anything is pollution in that environment / context, is is the rise of content driven by surveillance capitalism and political corruption.

At this point (at the risk of turning a measure into a target), might we be able to gauge the natural-ness of a forum by the number of cat pics?

> Cat pictures at least add joy and mirth, and are driven by real people without outside motivation.

Scientists Find a Surprising Link Between Cats And Happiness Across 93 Countries (05 October 2026) https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-find-a-surprising-li...

> If you're looking for a boost of household happiness, then you might want to consider getting yourself a cat.

> In a new study published in PLOS One, an international team of researchers analyzed publicly available data across 93 countries to examine the relationship between happiness scores, domestic cat density, and infection rates of Toxoplasma gondii – the parasite that affects as many as 1 in 3 people and which felines are the primary host of.

> ...

> "What we found is that countries with more cats tended to report higher levels of happiness, while countries with higher exposure to Toxoplasma gondii tended to report lower levels of happiness," say the study authors in a press release.

Wealth, health, cats and Toxoplasma gondii: An ecological correlational study of subjective well-being across 93 countries (September 30, 2026) - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0357911

> Conclusion

> This ecological study provides novel insights into the magnitude and robustness of the associations between happiness, cat density, T. gondii exposure, and socioeconomic factors across 93 countries. Our main findings showed that, besides the typical associations between subjective well-being and some socioeconomic factors, national happiness was largely and positively associated with cat density and largely and negatively associated with IgM T. gondii exposure. These results underscore the need for future studies integrating both socioeconomic and biological determinants of happiness and including longitudinal and interdisciplinary approaches to elucidate the underlying mechanisms and processes.

Thank you Claudia. The cat pollution problem predates your training. In summation, cat pictures started as a nonpathogenec virus on Facebook and slowly matured into a slight benefit to some and an off-topic scourge to others. It's net benefit to humanity are debatable.