We have Reverend Lovejoy's wife to thank for that defining line of late-90's paranoia. 10 years later and nothing has changed. I think what gets me most about this woman is that she went from the mindset "if its not happening to my child, then its not happening to any child" to "if its happening to my child it must be happening to *every* child!"
Its one of the banes of the Internet: we are able to form closed groups across such large segments of society and geography that we become even more insular in our thinking because we have validation from someone in another part of the world. We are scared of our next-door neighbors but trust the new friend from Peoria.
I think the biggest of this type of paranoia is the autism-MMR vaccine "link." Sites like this one reflect a collection of tens of thousands of people who think this is real. In spite of straightforward scientific proof like was reported here. Not only are they chasing the wrong cause, they are ignoring all the other possible causes of a statistically significant event!
And we can all, for some reason, dismiss those liars at the CDC
Yet for all this evidence, easy to find, easy to understand, the little Internet clubs grow. I think, in the end, it comes down to a circle of trust and mutual validation:
"All that scientific data is just getting in the way of how I feel, please validate me."
Maybe (and this is no comfort to the poor parents who have lost children to food allergies) there is no increase in allergic reactions, only a delay in exposure. Those kids wouldn't have made it two days 100 years ago (before non-organic food). Or maybe the wouldn't have been allergic. I can get behind funding research on the issue, but not behind hysteria based on an Internet support group and void of anything scientific.
Its one of the banes of the Internet: we are able to form closed groups across such large segments of society and geography that we become even more insular in our thinking because we have validation from someone in another part of the world. We are scared of our next-door neighbors but trust the new friend from Peoria.
I think the biggest of this type of paranoia is the autism-MMR vaccine "link." Sites like this one reflect a collection of tens of thousands of people who think this is real. In spite of straightforward scientific proof like was reported here. Not only are they chasing the wrong cause, they are ignoring all the other possible causes of a statistically significant event!
"Something else must be at play and we need to know what that is if we're really serious about preventing autism," said Geschwind, who had no connection with the study.
And we can all, for some reason, dismiss those liars at the CDC
Yet for all this evidence, easy to find, easy to understand, the little Internet clubs grow. I think, in the end, it comes down to a circle of trust and mutual validation:
"All that scientific data is just getting in the way of how I feel, please validate me."
Maybe (and this is no comfort to the poor parents who have lost children to food allergies) there is no increase in allergic reactions, only a delay in exposure. Those kids wouldn't have made it two days 100 years ago (before non-organic food). Or maybe the wouldn't have been allergic. I can get behind funding research on the issue, but not behind hysteria based on an Internet support group and void of anything scientific.
Yeah, I am willing to grant that some unfortunate people have been screwed by the slow uptake of medical science (cv. fibromyalgia, which a large portion of doctors _still_ think is a psychosomatic disorder). When people talk about cell-phone-caused cancer, sensitivities to electrical/wireless frequencies, and even the weird sci-fi stuff like Morgellon's... well, I am willing to allow that all of these things could happen. To a very small number of people. Such a small number that it is difficult to evaluate statistically. But it is not some widespread conspiracy/arrogant dismissal of the medical community. And it is not something that is going to kill EVERYONE ON THE PLANET UNLESS WE STOP IT NOW!!!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Puh-lease, people. Take a note from the technology world: you don't want to be cutting-edge. Take what the medical world has to offer. If they can't diagnose or treat you, then wait. If you can't wait, then I'm sorry. But the tested treatments are numerically far more likely to make you better than Aunt Rosie's anecdotally-proven herbal concoction. And living your life just like everybody else is far less likely to kill you than moving out to the untouched wilds of the jungle. Sure you may reduce your risk of cancer by .001% by eliminating microwave popcorn from your diet, but the 1000s of other paranoid life decisions you made along the same lines were just stupid and time-consuming panic.