• Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    On the broader topic of fear and medicine, yes.

    But specifically the fear of autism being caused by vaccines is (probably unjustly) centred on Thimerosal.

    • VeganPizza69 Ⓥ@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Fear is the reflection of ignorance, and the ignorant don’t read the facts. When you’re basing your hypothesis of influence on the notion that these people know facts, you’re being overly (erroneously) generous.

      First comes the fear of vaccines, then comes the pseudoscientific justification.

      Fear of autism is in the same realm as fear of queerness. It’s the same hateful assholes trying to pathologize human non-average human behavior, trying to blame conspiracies, trying to “deconvert” the victims of said conspiracies.

      And anti-vaccine history is as old as vaccines, and it’s the same assholes. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02671-0

      • Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Fear is the reflection of ignorance

        Well, no. I’m fearful of parachute jumps. I know they are 99% safe.

        When you’re basing your hypothesis of influence on the notion that these people know facts, you’re being overly (erroneously) generous.

        Yes. No-one need know anything about Thimerosal. The only reason it has reached the public consciousness is because of fearmongers.

        First comes the fear of vaccines, then comes the pseudoscientific justification.

        Fear of autism is in the same realm as fear of queerness.

        There is an element of environmental influence in autism (risk factors linked to various chemicals) that doesn’t exist in sexuality.

        It’s the same hateful assholes trying to pathologize human non-average human behavior, trying to blame conspiracies, trying to “deconvert” the victims of said conspiracies. And anti-vaccine history is as old as vaccines, and it’s the same assholes

        The Venn diagram may overlap but I don’t think they are the same. There is lots of left wing distrust of anything big pharma related, and things like the Tuskegee experiment didn’t help.

        • VeganPizza69 Ⓥ@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          Well, no. I’m fearful of parachute jumps. I know they are 99% safe.

          Right, and do you feel fear about parachute jumps or do you avoid them because you’re smart and don’t engage in such behavior?

          There is an element of environmental influence in autism (risk factors linked to various chemicals) that doesn’t exist in sexuality.

          You’d be surprised.

          Theorizing the Gay Frog Hannah Boast Environmental Humanities (2022) 14 (3): 661–679. https://doi.org/10.1215/22011919-9962959

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JRLCBb7qK8

          A whole lot of fear now about “chemicals”, especially microplastics and PFAS, is tied to this fear of tainted blood that’s popular among conservatives. It’s incorrect, of course, even with plastics… the ones messing with hormones aren’t those. You’ll see this discourse firstly tied to sperm counts, then it gets into fertility and queerness.

          The people trying to “fix” people who are autistic are the same ones who are trying to “fix” gay people. Same conversion therapy torture too.

          The Venn diagram may overlap but I don’t think they are the same. There is lots of left wing distrust of anything big pharma related, and things like the Tuskegee experiment didn’t help.

          This is bullshit enlightened centrism. The myth of the “hippie leftist” was demolished thanks to the COVID pandemic, as we’ve seen these supposed leftists becoming fascists.

          This is well documented in this podcast and book: https://www.conspirituality.net/

          Drop the easy tropes.