Mastodawn

The anti-vaccine movement has the same talking points now as it did in the 1800’s. It’s always been a rejection of science, scientists, and progress, with a soupçon of paranoia. Below is a slide for a talk I’m preparing that illustrates the identical strategies. I have more examples, too.

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MegatronicThronBanks Nov 2, 2025

@elizabethjacobs.bsky.social Start explaining Phlogiston with a straight face and scan for reactions....

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Richard Rathe Nov 2, 2025

@elizabethjacobs.bsky.social

My Grandfather was a Physician and ran a field hospital in #England during #WWII .

He kept a scrapbook including entire magazines from that time. In one of them we found the following gem...

"An Opponent of #Pasteurization", Lawrence P. Garrod, Country Life, September 29, 1944

My synopsis...

Commenting on "The Case Against #Pasteurisation" (note different spelling) by John P. Bibby, Dr. Garrod knocks down all the #deceptions, #obfuscations, & #misdirections in the subject text. I counted at least seven:

Obfuscating tables and figures
Unsound use of statistics
Assuming correlation implies causation
Cherry-picked data
Non-standardised data
False equivalence (infection vs vaccination)
Ignoring evidence

The arguments presented by Mr. Bibby are surprisingly similar to #RFKJr 's eighty years later:

The risks of drinking #rawmilk are minimal.
The benefits of raw milk outweigh the risks.
#Infections are good for children overall, even if some die.
The #publichealth "establishment" is preventing people from being healthy.

#Tuberculosis