Hopefully as COVID fades in the collective memory, so will antivaxxing. I never even heard of it before COVID, and it seems to be mainly an American problem (although they did achieve a cultural victory a little after WW2 so the rest of the world gets infected as well) so maybe it'll go away soon?
this post was submitted on 22 Oct 2026
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It's mainly narcissism. They want to be right and they want to be the ones in the know. That need takes over their entire personality and they fall for crap like antivaxx grift easily.
I'm sure there are some people who fall into the rabbit hole because of this, but the antivax movement goes a lot further than being afraid of needles. Antivaxxers with tattoos and the like.
Ink is easy to understand, while drugs and vaccines are not at all intuitive from the vulgar perspective of appearance.
I would phrase it as “advertising ignorance.”
Elizabeth Holmes made billions being afraid of needles.
Antivaxxers fear the establishment and also overinflate their intelligence. I don't think needles have much to do with it.
I can't blame them for fearing the establishment when I think about who sits atop the world, the US specifically. Needles have a lot to do with it. It's just that the establishment, i.e. Trump and co., makes use of people's propensities to distort reality.
They started out with good intentions, like maga started out with rage about corruption. Then both movements spiraled into insanity with Russian help.
People also don't deal well with opt in probability, if you know that a vaccination will have a 1/100,000 chance of a side effect and actually getting the virus has a 1/100 chance of a side effect people will hesitate. It's easier to live with taking no action and suffering ill effect then to bring the ill effect on you by choice.
im a needlephobe and I get vaxxed. I hate it but I have had decade to find ways to deal with it. Still can't stand seeing someone else get one or such. Curiously you would think I would want to get them all at once but like. I have to really get myself together for each one and it is just better for it to happen and be over asap.
Way to rationalize their fear of fear.
Huh? How do they fear a fear.
Guess the second fear wasn't necessary. It's their way to ratonalize fear.
Fear of doctors in general.
A severe mistrust of scientific authority. To be fair, scientific authorities have been really wrong and actively harmful sometimes.
To be fair does anyone trust the CDC or FDA right now?
Fear of problems by looking for them.