Measles outbreak tracker (2 Viewers)

[efil4stnias]

It’s sad that something so simple and effective as the basic immunizations have been have been cast aside over misinformation and stupidity. I was reading at one point there are essentially 12 people behind this whole antivax movement, and it is threatening to erase decades of freedom from worry of major childhood diseases. Kids shouldn’t have to deal with these illnesses at all anymore, but yet here we are. I wonder though how bad it will have to get, how many kids will have to be horribly sick, paralyzed or die before the collective group says wait, maybe scientists in the 1950s were on to something….

20 years ago, 12 people across all 50 states who didnt even know each other.

Enter Social Media.

everything changed.

 

[rail]

I still can't wrap my brain around what a dumb time I'm living in.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

20 years ago, 12 people across all 50 states who didnt even know each other.

Enter Social Media.

everything changed.

but those 12 seeds needed fertile ground for purchase
anti-intellectualism - in all of its myriad forms - has been a backbeat of this country from jump
we just keep inventing new ways (yellow journalism, am radio, cable tv, now social media) to reach and radicalize these...fertile minds

 

[antipop]

threatening to erase decades of freedom from worry of major childhood diseases.

i love this phrasing...since antivaxers love to talk about "muh freedumz!" while not realizing the actual freedom that vaccinations offer

 

[efil4stnias]

but those 12 seeds needed fertile ground for purchase
anti-intellectualism - in all of its myriad forms - has been a backbeat of this country from jump
we just keep inventing new ways (yellow journalism, am radio, cable tv, now social media) to reach and radicalize these...fertile minds

the fertile ground was social media.

It allowed those seeds to germinate and expand. creating new growth due to trade winds.

 

[saintmdterps]

I still can't wrap my brain around what a dumb time I'm living in.

It is indeed spectacularly dumb. I'm hoping Darwinism really kicks in and the catastrophically stupid begin to off themselves in ever-increasing numbers.

 

[Eeyore]

It is indeed spectacularly dumb. I'm hoping Darwinism really kicks in and the catastrophically stupid begin to off themselves in ever-increasing numbers.

 

[Sailorsaint]

It is indeed spectacularly dumb. I'm hoping Darwinism really kicks in and the catastrophically stupid begin to off themselves in ever-increasing numbers.

The problem is that the antivaxxers were all vaxxed as children. They don't have anything to worry about.

 

[2009ring]

I've said for years that i never understood exactly how stupid the human race was until the internet was invented.

 

[kcirdor]

Im sorry but yall are from Louisiana and surprised by stupidity...... ooooook.

 

[Optimus Prime]

I've said for years that i never understood exactly how stupid, racist, sexist, homophobic and generally mean spirited the human race was until the internet was invented.

Fixed

 

[kcirdor]

Fixed

Again yall are from Louisiana and needed the internet for this? Not in the entire recorded human history?

 

[CapitalCitySaint]

It is indeed spectacularly dumb. I'm hoping Darwinism really kicks in and the catastrophically stupid begin to off themselves in ever-increasing numbers.

I was thinking along these same lines. I wish the stupidity of these people would take them out quicker. Unfortunately they are all vaxxed and it's their children that will suffer.

I want to say more but can't on here.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Again yall are from Louisiana and needed the internet for this? Not in the entire recorded human history?

People knew it was there for sure

What think people didn’t know was how widespread it was and who was wrapped up in it

I’ve said before a lot of people had said that they had no idea how racist/sexist/homophobic their family, friends, neighbors, coworkers etc were until the internet/social media came along

People they previously would have sworn on a Bible didn’t have a racist bone in their body was posting otherwise daily

 

[Sun Wukong]

but those 12 seeds needed fertile ground for purchase
anti-intellectualism - in all of its myriad forms - has been a backbeat of this country from jump
we just keep inventing new ways (yellow journalism, am radio, cable tv, now social media) to reach and radicalize these...fertile minds

It has only been since the mass adoption of the internet, and really moreso the arrival of Web 2.0/social media, that we have seen mass intellectual regression we are dealing with the fallout of right now. We are moving backwards at frightening speeds, and that basically always presages a major collapse.

These people existed. But they couldn't network. They couldn't establish echo chambers. They weren't gaining meaningful ground against science and medical consensus. For most of the 20th century we were seeing growth in those areas.

They do all of that now. The ability to connect with one another and galvanize their messaging turned them from cranks into actual dangers. It signal boosted their nonsense to a lot of people who otherwise would not have been a part of what was going on, but were ao ignorant or completely lacking media literacy that they jumped on the insane train because they take everything at face value.

I've said this before, but we were as a species/society not ready for the rise of the internet and it's associated fallout. I have genuinely come to believe it has been an almost compete net negative intellectually, economically, and socially. And even the things that were once good about it have become increasingly enshittified in the past decade.