Half of Americans Believe Medical Conspiracy Theories

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/personal-health/half-americans-believe-medical-conspiracy-theories?src=newsletter1011892



***SNIP

The survey polled 1,351 adults as part of an online survey. The data was weighted to represent the U.S. population. Participants were asked to read six well-known medical conspiracy theories and indicate whether or not they were aware of them. Then they were asked if they agreed with them.

The theories used in the survey were:

A U.S. spy agency infected a large number of African Americans with HIV/AIDS.

The FDA is concealing information about natural cancer cures.

Vaccines can cause neurological disorders like autism.

The U.S. government is hiding research that proves that cell phones cause cancer.

Genetically modified organisms are being used to shrink the world's population

Water fluoridation is a way for companies to dump dangerous chemicals into the environment.

Some 49% of the survey participants agreed with at least one of the conspiracies.

The only theory that more than half of respondents disagreed with was that the U.S. infected African Americans with AIDS.

The survey also suggests that people who believe in medical conspiracy theories might take different approaches to caring for their health. For example, only 13% of people who did not believe in any of the conspiracy theories take nutritional supplements, while 35% of those who believed in three or more conspiracy theories took supplements.

[GoneFishin]

1. I don't know about these particular items. But any time there is potential for an

organization to make a huge profit or stem huge losses, and the logistical means are available to them, they will probably do it, legal or not, ethical or not.

If in addition, there are historically proven cases which are parallel to the current, then it is reasonable to assume that greed will prevail, and human weakness will rear it's head.

If the means, motive, opportunity, and evidence of a misdeed exist, it is reasonable that some people will point to the most likely suspect.

What I personally disagree with is people who rest their denial of the existence of a conspiracy solely and purely on the supposition that the individuals or organizations under scrutiny simply are not sufficiently evil to commit a given act. In the face of hard evidence to the contrary, they draw their conclusions based on just a gut feeling that people are not capable of such a heinous act. Experience in business will teach you quite quickly that people are capable of stooping to extremely sleazy tactics much more easily than people generally realize when they are backed into a corner. And in business, there is always someone backer into a corner.

So if you exhaust all of the facts and all you have left is a gut feeling that "Nah, they would never do anything that unethical", then what you have got is zip.

[newfie11]

4. +1

[MisterP]

8. heck, if anyone said we should mistrust corporate-funded science 20 years ago

everyone would've jumped down their throats

suddenly now they're pretending they've always been against the corpos all along

[Shrike47]

2. Genetically modified organisms are being used to shrink the world's population? In my dreams.

[MineralMan]

5. Really? So, you'd applaud that, if it were true?

How strange.

[whistler162]

3. Me thinks the survey originators

need medical help. Their gullibility meters are broken in the off position.

[NightWatcher]

6. I read a story where kids exposed to religion have a hard time distinguishing fact and fiction

It was all over DU (sometimes it got hidden, others, not so much). Maybe someone who believes that Jonah was swallowed by a whale and survived, might also believe a quack doctor and vaccines cause autism.

[Quantess]

7. Which half are we supposed to interpret as gullible?

It isn't like governments have never lied or concealed anything from the general population. What defines a conspiracy theory, anyway? Not all "conspiracy theories" are equally ludicrous. I am not saying that I believe in any of those ideas. I'm just saying that there is no harm in wondering about things and questioning the status quo.

The survey also suggests that people who believe in medical conspiracy theories might take different approaches to caring for their health. For example, only 13% of people who did not believe in any of the conspiracy theories take nutritional supplements, while 35% of those who believed in three or more conspiracy theories took supplements.

Are they suggesting that nutritional supplements are totally worthless? Sure, I personally agree that most of them are probably unnecessary, but are we supposed to reject the value of all nutritional supplements? I swear by my calcium pills and my vitamin c.

This article is a knee-jerk from the "It's all bogus!" camp.

[Springslips]

13. Logic and science rules.

There is no proof that any of these things are real. None. Science, not just corporate science, but independent science has done study after study on Autism and Vaccination and there is no correlation. Even so, when will the vac- nuts ever explain just how vac causes Autism? Because correlation, if it did exist, still would not mean causation.

Questioning the status quo is important, but when a given a reasonable answer and you still reject it than you are not questioning you are assuming the status quo is evil because it is the status quo. The people who start woo are sociopaths playing on people's naivety and mistrust to cash in.

Science and reason is your friend. Like it, use it.

[bemildred]

9. Perhaps politicians habit of lying ot the public has something to do with it. nt

[SidDithers]

10. Half of Americans are fucking idiots...nt

Sid

[Octafish]

11. How about the time the US government intentionally fed LSD to American citizens?

Long ago, a DUer explained that one of the victims was his father, who fell to his death while under CIA "supervision" in New York City.

How about the time the US government intentionally infected American citizens with syphilis?

How about the time the US government intentionally exposed American citizens to radiation?

There are many more examples of US government criminal conspiracies in action that seldom are mentioned these days.

I wonder if and how those facts interfered with the experiment's hypothesis?

[GoneFishin]

12. Yeah. But that was then and this is now. It's like the old bible stories where magic occurs

on a regular basis, but those things don't happen today because ... because ... well, they just don't.

So just because the government did those things way back in the last century (a century is 100 years, a very long time) don't try to imply that they might do anything unethical like that today, like spy on innocent american citizens, or pass secret trade laws that only benefit the extremely wealthy while devastating the american middle class, or use government employees to propagandize on social web sites, because I won't allow it, gosh darn it.

People in high positions don't abuse their authority for money or power. Not here in the good ole USA. And they especially would never work in a coordinated group to do these bad things because that would be a conspiracy, which we know does not happen any more like it used to in the olden days.

[Springslips]

15. Therefor...

All the conspiracy theories are true?

INVALID!!!!!!

The list above has been solidly debunked.

The fact that the government, business, other institution have done shady things before don't make these things true. Science and logic shows them false. Love it, use it!

[MohRokTah]

14. I don't buy any of the woo they asked about, but I do take dietary supplements.

Doctor's orders to insure I get my minimum recommended amounts of vitamins. 1 Centrum Silver daily.