wtf wrote:
for the record - I wasn't suggesting autism because I seriously believe that there is any connection. I don't *not* believe it either, I've just never read that anywhere. It was just the first thing that came to mind when I tried to think of a mysterious neurological disorder...50 years later - oh hey, remember that stuff we said was safe like 50 years ago? um, it seems to cause _____ in your children. This stuff happens all the time. They wipe out a pest, some little gnat or something that causes grief to a couple farmers, and years later these mysterious things start happening (like a shitload of bees dying off or something). There's so many cases in our history.
Yeah I wasn't sure, but you mentioning it made me think of the guy, so I thought I'd tell some of his story.
I think it definitely pays to be questioning, cos even approaching things from a carefully verified scientific approach there are always gonna be gaps. But often these gaps are evaluated by further studies, so I think there are some things for which there is enough evidence to make a personal decision.
Obviously the other problem, that you already mentioned, is that scientific studies are often heavily linked with politics, which can make them a little dubious. But from my experience, mostly the scientific studies themselves are fully accurate, but that the data and conclusions from them can be reframed to fit into political agendas. So if you have access to the original study along with a keen eye you can be fairly sure of what's actually going on.
