Ask Lemmy

Not American, but at least a few do. And they're exporting it. My old English teacher back when I lived in the Dominican Republic was an American missionary who taught to fund her religious activities. Guess what beliefs about science and politics she was spreading along with her beliefs about baptism of the spirit?

People heard about the original, now discredited study, which came out around the time autism diagnosises were increasing. People then either didn't hear or chose not to believe that the OG study was discredited.

Well, my mom believes it and she's not even American.

Not just USA.

No, it's not a joke, some people are that fucking stupid.

Yeah this is a true thing. This person that knows me asked me if vaccines caused my autism.

There is a small, idiotic group that thinks that. Unfortunately that group is growing.

A nurse in my family went deep anti-vax during covid, and I still don't understand the motivation or logic. And they're definitely not an isolated story.

There's too many stupid people in power; idiocracy is becoming real

The rumor started with a few celebrities with their new age theories (from the same era that brought you "rock and roll comes from the devil", "Anne Frank didn't write her diaries", and "Elvis is alive but Paul McCartney is dead") and then it just kind of picked up because America isn't very pro-disability and gets alienated easily. Fortunately it has finally just about died down, but once in a while someone will bring it up.

Yup. Plenty of us sure do! It stems from bogus autism research by Andrew Wakefield like 20 years ago. There are a myriad of reasons for people to buy into it. We’ve even enabled them with religious exemptions at the state level (i.e. it’s against your religion to vaccinate).

Louisiana has even stopped promoting them, https://abcnews.go.com/Health/louisiana-health-department-stop-promoting-mass-vaccination/story?id=118819674

And we have a particularly nasty outbreak right now in one of our states because of vaccine avoidance, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq8yvg5359po

Yes, People are stupid.

They rather believe one discredited doctor that lied because he had a vested financial interest in selling his own product over the competition, and a washed up worthless husk of a failed playboy model, over their own personal history of being vaccinated, their doctors assurances, and the global medical community insisting on them not only being safe, but urgently critical to have.

Americans are some of the most stupid, and most easily propagandized people on the planet. Especially conservative Americans.

Robert DeNiro has a child with Autism he is absolutely positively convinced was caused by vaccines, he's shushed a lot in public, but it's a rock solid belief of his. I have no idea what to say except, the science says it's not true, so I either believe one man's (more than that but still) personal experience and unimaginable pain at the unfairness of life, or I believe demonstrable scientifically tested fact. I go with the later, but still wish Bobby well.

I know many who believe vaccines cause autism yes

You answered your question with the 4th word!

There are people around the world who don’t believe in it. It’s not specific to Americans. You are basing this off one person on both the ends.