Stories abound that seem and are counter to factual knowledge, and even more so on the internet. Some are merely amusing; others fatal. For example, a 1998 article in The Lancet implied the MMR (Measles, Mumps, and Rubella) vaccine might be a cause of autism. The study was retracted in 2004 with disclosure that the dozen children in the study had monetary legal interest in the linkage and the chief investigator was a compensated legal expert for them. Yet the belief lives on, fueled both on the net and on recent TV appearances such as CNN’s Larry King Live.
CDC states “the vaccine protects against dangerous, even deadly, diseases.” Continued false advocacy then has an intended consequence of exposing one’s children and others to “dangerous, even deadly, diseases.”
Extensive studies since have found zero linkage between MMR and autism, including one Danish study of 500,000 children both receiving and not receiving the MMR vaccine. No study has found any linkage—none!
Note a site illustrating false advocacy is titled “DNA Test Links Autism to MMR,” yet the article itself does not state this. It merely states the DNA was used to identify measles virus in the gut, and the strain found is not yet identified as the same strain used in the MMR vaccine. Soon enough, the article descends into an anecdotal feel-sorry-for-the-child-with-autism, an emotional ploy to obscure lack of cause-and-effect linkage of condition and vaccine. The only linkage apparently is in the doctor’s mind and his letter to the mother. Nice doctor and unethical journalists.
This is but one example of counter knowledge rampant in today’s society. What amazes and horrifies me are the number of people who readily believe it and those, publisher and personality, who perpetrate it for profit. I wonder our species, much less our civilization, has survived.
"One of the greatest challenges facing mankind is the challenge of distinguishing reality from fantasy, truth from propaganda..." ~ Michael Crichton
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A recent example of a counterknowledge academic, Jared Diamond, being exposed is described by Rhonda Schearer.
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