Mosquitoes or virus

The book "Denialism" by Michael Specter with a subtitle - "How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives" was on Danny's coffee table when I was visiting and I wanted to read it again to look at the chapter headings. The fear of science to me is difficult to believe, knowing that without science our society would be in deep doo doo. But somehow people more quickly believe the wrong things mostly because they put more trust in a the rantings of a notable personage than they do in facts. Inoculation against small pox is a big deal. The fact is it has saved millions of lives over the centuries. Yet inoculations are now noted as the cause of autism. Heartbroken parents of autistic children are looking for a scapegoat. Those inoculations the kid got at six months! Of course there's the culprit. So there is a movement to convince parents to skip those life-saving facts. Never mind that autism occurs in families around the world that know nothing of inoculations. The first signs of autism occur about the same time that pediatricians advise inoculations. So the doctors are in league with the pharmaceutical companies! Think about the logic in that. Researchers are working on the source of the affliction. Evolutionary biologists are finding proteins, hox genes, and switches in development and have discovered how genetics influence the present. They may find the speck on the helix where a glitch occurs. Maybe the source will be discovered. That does not mean autism can be prevented. It certainly does not come from childhood inoculations.
Naomi Sherer