Magnetizing Videos

Wow. An anti-vaccine nurse in Ohio tried to prove the Vaccines Cause Magnetism theory in an state legislative committee. The demonstration did not go to plan pic.twitter.com/0ubELst4E8

— Tyler Buchanan (@Tylerjoelb) June 9, 2021

Yeah, this person might not be "jiving" in the sense that her silly ass tried to stick a key on herself like that was a thing that was really happening. She apparently thought the display would be more dramatic than that. Honestly, if keys are sticking to your neck, for crying out loud, stop using pancake syrup as a moisturizer!  Keys aren't even usually magnetic! They are brass or some other, nonmagnetic alloy.

It seems like some of these credulous people have just been passively watching videos posted to Facebook, and have convinced themselves that that qualifies as "having done research". But if you're familiar with psychic debunkers like the late James Randi--you wouldn't see a video of someone with assorted metal things stuck to them and immediately assume "this is very credible".  You would wonder: "how did they do that?"

You might even, before showing your gullible face in public, also wonder why they might do that.

I have to question the kind of mind who finds it easier to believe that pharmaceutical companies would play a game like "Let's replace this vaccine with magnetic crystals and see if anyone notices" than that randos on the internet are playing shenanigans, whether for attention, active disinformation, or just to generally be pests.

Also--what would be the mechanism by which a small amount of injectable material magnetizes the body of a full-grown person? It seems to me like a person who has come to the conclusion that one can be magnetized by a COVID-19 vaccine injection hasn't given a lot of thoughts to how vaccines or magnets work. 

Some of these conspiracy theorists aren't uneducated people--they just aren't thinking. It may feel like they are doing the work because they are engaging with a new idea ("Vaccines ae bad, actually"), but they are responding at an emotional, not intellectual, level. Believing things you see on a YouTube video is not empirical data!

Of course, it's reasonable to be concerned about what you put into your body. The American diet is stuffed with dodgy, not especially nutritious things, and the fact that we have drug advertisements on television is really bizarre. But it's also really important to be concerned with what you put (or allow to be put) in your head.

I recommend--for goodness' sake, people, think about the things you're thinking about!