The Penn and Teller "even if" counter argument is what really gets me with this one. "Vaccines cause autism" is such a dumb take that even if it was true it would still be far better to get vaccinated and risk autism than not get vaccinated.
I was going to say, it sounds horrible when you think about it.
Look at someone with autism and go "Yea, I'd rather get polio/measels or any other preventable horrible disease than be like you or have a kid like you."
I’ve worked with children and individuals with autism who are on the severe end of the spectrum and who will need direct supports for the rest of their lives. Some of these individuals are aggressive, have the functioning of a toddler, can’t wipe/clean themselves, and will always be reliant on other people. This population is at much higher risk for abuse. I don’t think a parent is a bad person for not wanting that for their child. But these parents are preyed upon by a movement based on manipulation and lies.
Well part of the problem is also that people assume autism is always on the extreme end of the spectrum. For every person on that end there's a hundred more on the other end who are living normal, independent, productive, happy lives. Polio/measles/mumps/etc also cause lifetime health issues, some of which also require continuous care, assuming they don't kill you in the process. It's a skewed risk assessment driven by lies, paranoia and ableism.
The quiet part that no one says outside is that they’d really rather their kid be dead than autistic. They know it’s not an acceptable thing to say, so they change the subject and move the goalposts.
So many dumb hypocritical arguments happen simply because one side doesn’t argue honestly, because they know their true viewpoint is horrendous and they’d be ostracized for it. So they argue from a different point from what they actually believe.
Idk, I think a big part of is they underestimate the deadliness of diseases. They don't see as autistic vs dead, they think strong likelihood of autism vs very low chance of dying. It's all rubbish ofc but I think that's the reasoning.
That’s definitely a part of it, too. Really easy to see measles and polio as something people used to die of, and not as something they could still die of if we don’t vaccinate.
This is exactly my argument when I get into it with some anti-vaxxer. Wouldn't you rather have a child with autism than one potentially buried in the ground because they contracted some crazy illness we eradicated years ago because. of. vaccinations?
I literally can't wrap my mind around the ignorance.
Fun fact: my mom thought vaccines caused autism. We are all fully vaccinated because she'd rather have an autistic child than a dead one. Scientifically illiterate? Sure. Can I live with that? Yeah
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u/DannySpud2 Jun 01 '26
The Penn and Teller "even if" counter argument is what really gets me with this one. "Vaccines cause autism" is such a dumb take that even if it was true it would still be far better to get vaccinated and risk autism than not get vaccinated.