Reply to Are antivaxxers all just contrarians and conspiracy theorists?

Forum Index » Off-Topic

Reply to "Are antivaxxers all just contrarians and conspiracy theorists?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We're research scientists with MDs and PhDs and NO, we personally know (or have heard of in our circle) absolutely zero PhDs or MDs who are vaccine-deniers.

My aunt, who has a high school diploma, became a raw vegan, and vaccine denier, decades ago. She died of Covid last year.
She was intelligent, but with a very contrarian, anti-establishment sort of personality. She felt the government was hiding things from her, the medical establishment was under the control of Big Pharma, etc. She lacked the critical thinking and scientific approach necessary to distinguish false experts from legitimate ones. Despite our efforts at providing information, she did not deviate from her beliefs, and died for them.

I think some human brains are just wired to find satisfaction in countering the established knowledge and power centers. They're people who feel stifled by the mundanity of their daily lives, and feel compelled to seek more exciting/grandiose explanations that place them in more central roles. [b]Some may be twice exceptional (high IQ with ADHD/ASD/learning disabilities) who are underemployed and lack constructive outlets for their splinter skills. [/b]

It becomes Main Character Syndrome, in a way. The "I know better, you guys are just sheep" way of life. It boils down to a certain type of neurodivergence.

[/quote]I really haven’t seen this in my 2E community - there are a few, but no more than in other communities.  [/quote]

PP you replied to. Perhaps. My husband and son are 2e, so of course I am aware you can be 2e and not prone to conspiracies.

Conspiracy theories in general were kept at the margins of society before the pandemic. What brought many to the fore (vaccines, QAnon, election fraud, etc) is social isolation. Homo Sapiens is a highly social animal and its successful spread across the world and technological dominance has depended on frequent association and communication with others. People who are forced into isolation tend to become irrational. People who spend their time in echo chambers of ideas tend to lose all sense of proportion, and lose their ability to relate to others who do not believe the same things. In that context, it makes sense that a certain tranche of the population, who has a predisposition to perseverate and hyperfocus on topics of interest (including people on the spectrum and people with ADHD, who may have difficulty socializing successful in more standard social milieus to begin with), will become more vulnerable than others to conspiracies.

Social isolation and internet echo chambers of disinformation paved the way for conspiracy theories to infiltrate the mainstream debate.
[/quote]

I'm so impressed by your casual discrimination against people with disabilities. I have a kid with multiple and neither he nor the kids he knows hyperfocus on the politics of covid and none are anti vax. What  a nasty stereotype you threw in there so casually "research scientist". Wow. What a pompus attitude some of us have in these posts.  If you're the poster I think you are you've shown your ignorance related to children with disabilities numerous times before. I know I'm still waiting for your explanation of the important therapies we should have gotten our kids in to at an early age that would have made everything better.

[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics