Thread by @drfixus

A Saturday rant, of sorts...
As a pediatrician who, like all pediatricians, spent 11 years (minimum) in higher education and training, it is absolutely astonishing to me that ppl w no medical training whatsoever think they have equivalent knowledge because they have internet
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2/ access and a social network. I once had a conversation w a parent who questioned the safety of #vaccines and chose not to vaccinate his child (well... until the child was 2 and they wanted daycare and then it was inconvenient to be unvaccinated...)
He was a software developer

3/ Smart guy for sure. Mad google skills. He had “done his research” and no amount of discussion was going to change his mind. We were civil throughout. They continued to bring the child to me and took my advice for everything else— just not #vaccines. Now, if I had asked him
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5/ if I could go do HIS job, having done my “research” on the development of software, read a few blogs and techy sites, he would have been offended. If he had recommended that I get anti-virus software because my computer was vulnerable and I my response had been...
6/

“I’ve done my research. I think anti-virus software causes more harm than good. I read online that someone downloaded it on their computer and their computer DIED a week later. My cousin downloaded it and her computer was never the same after that. I’ll take my chances”
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8/ he would have thought I was misinformed. Did I not understand the risks of a computer virus? I could lose everything! It could cost me thousands to fix the damage caused by a computer virus! How could I not understand this and not take the advice of an expert in computers?

9/ Of course, I know anti-virus software is just a way for the developers to make money off of a trusting public. All of the reports on the software are sponsored by the developers. Everyone knows that. And I’ve heard that software contains little fragments of code that could

10/ infect my computer and ruin it. I know those experts tell me it’s safe, but we all know they’re paid by the software company to say that. They don’t care about my computer. I can’t believe the friends I have who just blindly trust anti-virus software!
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Even my online friends groups told me to install it, so I found a different group to hang out with that shares my beliefs. People are so stupid. I post on social media about how people need to WAKE UP about this. I link to YouTube videos that tell similar stories.
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These so-called “experts” in computer science troll my accounts and tell people I’m wrong, but I know. I’ve done my research! Most of those products are made in CHINA! Some of them actually CONTAIN viruses that shed and infect OTHER hardware!
Those experts make me so mad.
/13

Sometimes I go online and post bad ratings for their software or their stores just to try to hurt them for selling their untested and unsafe anti-viral software products! People who know the TRUTH need to stop them from selling this stuff to others! They’re even
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making TikTok videos now to try to convince KIDS that THEY need to protect their computers! They have no shame. I’ve heard they are KNOWINGLY injecting DLLs into your computer’s processes! There no NO safety studies!
/15

Just last week my friend got a new computer and had anti-virus software installed the day she brought it home! It hadn’t even been USED yet! There’s no way it could have been infected w a virus when it was only a day old! Well, a month later her Q key got stuck! I warned her.
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There’s this one software developer on social media who I follow and he says you should just put a special little sticker on your computer and it will protect from viruses. He sells them in his online store. I got one and it’s AMAZING! My computer runs PERFECTLY!
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/18
Yeah.
That software developer parent would probably think I was crazy to believe all that.
It would probably frustrate him.
It might make him sad.
He’d still be nice to me, but any time he had a chance he’d probably try to get me to change my mind.
👀
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#VaccinateYourKids