{"id":2022114,"date":"2023-09-05T12:19:01","date_gmt":"2023-09-05T16:19:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/immunologist-says-extreme-safety-culture-and-fear-of-germs-harms-society\/"},"modified":"2023-09-05T12:26:57","modified_gmt":"2023-09-05T16:26:57","slug":"immunologist-says-extreme-safety-culture-and-fear-of-germs-harms-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/immunologist-says-extreme-safety-culture-and-fear-of-germs-harms-society\/","title":{"rendered":"Immunologist warns: Excessive germophobia and safety obsession damage society."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fimmunologist-says-extreme-safety-culture-and-fear-of-germs-harms-society%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2022114&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>A \u2063Culture of Safety: How It\u200c Impacted the COVID-19 Pandemic<\/h2>\n<p>A culture promoting safety above\u200d all else was a means of establishing\u200c unprecedented limitations \u200bof the public\u2019s freedom during the COVID-19 pandemic,\u200d according to Steven Templeton, an immunologist and author of the\u2063 recent book, &#8220;Fear of a Microbial Planet: How a\u2064 Germophobic Safety Culture Makes Us Less Safe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Templeton shared his thoughts in a recent interview for EpochTV\u2019s \u2062&#8221;American Thought Leaders&#8221; program, saying \u2063that\u2063 this safety culture has become extreme,\u2063 evolving to \u200bsomething irrational\u2062 that\u200b could\u2014together with\u200b the spread \u2062of misinformation about the real risks involved\u2014lead to unprecedented\u2064 misery\u2062 via lockdowns and other extreme\u200c measures.<\/p>\n<p>Although he&#8217;s not a\u2062 psychologist, Mr. Templeton said he is\u200c interested in the psychological aspect of what happened in the past three years.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>Related Stories<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/article\/israel-hospitals-begin-conducting-covid-19-pcr-tests-on-new-patients-5486274\">Israel Hospitals Begin Conducting COVID-19 PCR Tests \u200bon New Patients<\/a> \u200b(9\/5\/2023)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/fear-porn-dr-malone-criticizes-possible-covid-19-lockdowns-5480858\">\u2018Fear \u2062Porn\u2019: Dr.\u2062 Malone Criticizes Possible COVID-19 Lockdowns<\/a> \u2064(8\/25\/2023)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>For example, why did governments shut \u2064down hiking trails and skating parks during COVID? There\u2064 was no evidence supporting\u200d these measures, but they nevertheless were implemented, as another instance of\u200c extreme safety culture that just gives an \u201cappearance of safety.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This extreme safety culture can be traced back to\u200b how some children have grown up in recent decades,\u200b Mr. Templeton said, such as \u200dnot being allowed to \u200dplay without supervision.\u2063 Children who grow up under such conditions have become \u2062doctors, nurses, \u2062and public figures, with a mindset of feeling entitled\u200d and\u2062 trying to control everything.<\/p>\n<p>This extreme safety \u2064mindset has lead people to believe there is \u2063no \u2063advantage\u200b to taking \u200cany risk, a mindset nonexistent 20\u2063 or 30 years \u2063ago, according to Mr. Templeton.<\/p>\n<h2>Healthy \u2062With Microbes<\/h2>\n<p>To\u200d put things into perspective, Mr.\u2062 Templeton said that first of all, microbial exposure is beneficial for healthy people, and \u200dit can\u2063 strengthen a person. \u2062The advent of antibiotics and the era of \u2063\u201cthe only good \u200cbacteria are dead bacteria\u201d came\u2063 with\u200c a trade-off, as the healthy microbial balance in a human \u2062body was\u2063 affected.<\/p>\n<p>Using microbes, or mimicking\u2063 their effects, can lead to \u2062development of therapeutics to \u2063lower allergies, autoimmune diseases, and gluten sensitivity,\u2064 according to Mr. Templeton. Microbial disbiosis can \u2063also be relieved.<\/p>\n<p>Killing all microbes with potent antibiotics has the\u2064 disadvantage of the emergence of diseases that \u2062were\u2064 not common in the past, he said, also called \u2064first-world diseases.<\/p>\n<p>This observation can be seen more clearly by\u200c comparing the susceptibility to certain diseases\u2062 in developed and developing \u200dcountries.<\/p>\n<p>One could\u2063 expect that people\u2064 in \u2062developing countries with \u2064somewhat\u200b poorer sanitation would not be able to stay\u200d healthy, but real world observations\u2064 show something different.<\/p>\n<p>For example, the Amish population, who live a \u200clife without electricity and modern amenities, \u2063is \u2062exposed to more microbes, \u200btheir\u200b gut microflora\u200d is \u200bdifferent, and they are healthy\u2062 and\u2064 exhibit fewer first-world diseases compared\u200b to other populations.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Templeton said this can be interesting for finding \u2063potential new therapeutics for first-world diseases.<\/p>\n<h2>Safety or Irrationality?<\/h2>\n<p>Speaking of some effects that the COVID lockdowns had, Mr. Templeton mentioned that \u200cthe\u2064 \u201cmonomaniacal\u201d fear of a single threat \u2063lead to ignoring\u2063 other problems, such as \u2063skyrocketing \u2062obesity in children in the United States during the COVID years.<\/p>\n<p>New York\u200b Mayor Bill DeBlasio was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/global-health\/science-and-disease\/whole-lot-candy-new-york-children-get-100-covid-jab\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">giving $100 to children<\/a> 5 to 11 years old and telling them \u201cit buys \u2064a whole lot of \u200ccandy.&#8221; Mr. Templeton cited this as an example of a \u2063COVID \u2064policy that\u2062 could lead\u2063 to deterioration of \u200dchildren\u2019s \u200dhealth.<\/p>\n<p>The governments wanted\u200d to give to the public\u200d something they would believe makes people\u2063 safer, and given the lack of \u2063evidence supporting the\u2064 measures, this was just an \u201cillusion of\u2063 control,\u201d \u200dMr. Templeton said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUp until\u200d early 2020, the idea that \u2062you \u2063would wear a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/no-spike-in-florida-coronavirus-cases-despite-no-mask-mandate\/\" title=\"No Spike in Florida Coronavirus Cases Despite No Mask Mandate\">cloth face covering<\/a> to prevent \u2062giving someone else a respiratory infection or acquiring it yourself\u2014there \u200dwas no evidence to support that. But after things had been\u200b shut down for a while, \u200dthere seemed\u2063 to be a need to give the public something that they could believe\u2063 was going to make them safer\u2014convince them that maybe they could go out \u200dif they just wore something over their face. That was enough. \u200cThat \u200bwas the appearance of safety, giving them that control\u2014the illusion of control.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The same\u2062 feeling \u200bwas used with\u200c the vaccines, despite the small amount of\u2063 evidence regarding their effectiveness, Mr. Templeton\u200d said.<\/p>\n<h2>Misinformation via \u200cthe \u2018Research Industrial Complex\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>He said the \u200c\u201cresearch industrial complex,\u201d which works for years\u200c producing misinformation, \u2062reinforces this irrational safety \u2064culture.<\/p>\n<p>As an example, Mr.\u2063 Templeton\u200d talked\u200b about the initial years of \u2064HIV and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/immunologist-says-extreme-safety-culture-and-fear-of-germs-harms-society\/\" title=\"Immunologist warns: Excessive germophobia and safety obsession damage society.\">fear campaign \u2062targeting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-round-of-schools-ditching-shakespeare-for-promoting-misogyny-racism-and-more\/\" title=\"New Round Of Schools Ditching Shakespeare For Promoting \u2018Misogyny, Racism,\u2019 And More\">heterosexual men<\/a><\/a>. He said that in reality, those at very high risk were homosexual men with 10 or more sexual partners, whereas heterosexual men did not experience the same level of risk. There \u2062was, however, \u200dan effort similar to what happened \u2063during COVID, to persuade\u200b the general public that heterosexual men \u200dwere also in very high\u2062 risk, \u2064and that the disease could spread to people outside its vulnerable group.<\/p>\n<p>In \u200dother words, \u200cit was a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/steven-crowder-temporarily-suspended-from-twitter-over-voter-fraud-post-crowder-responds-fight-like-hell\/\" title=\"Steven Crowder Temporarily Suspended From Twitter Over Voter Fraud Post; Crowder Responds: \u2018Fight Like Hell\u2019\">misinformation campaign<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The goal\u200d of this was gaining more power and \u2063influence, something\u200d that survived to the COVID response, according to Mr. Templeton.<\/p>\n<p>During COVID, federal agencies\u200b tried to play with\u2064 the emotion of fear in \u200cpeople, with the Centers for \u2063Disease Control and Prevention saying that more than 2,000 children\u200d died of COVID. The CDC \u200ddid not specify whether those children \u200dwere healthy, and\u200b the\u200d accuracy\u200b of this \u2064research should also be questioned, according to \u2062Mr. \u200bTempleton.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhether it\u2019s even accurate is not important.\u200b It&#8217;s important \u2064to\u200b say that it\u2019s possible that a child could die. It doesn&#8217;t\u2064 matter whether it&#8217;s likely, they are trying to eliminate risk completely.\u200d They were saying that \u2064anybody \u2064can get it, and\u2063 anybody \u2063can die from it, which is not really true,\u201d Mr. Templeton said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor a healthy child, the risk\u2062 is \u200calmost zero. That was completely lost in\u200c the media coverage.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Mass \u200cHysteria<\/h2>\n<p>People\u200b are more likely to click on \u200csensational things online, such as fear-mongering articles, and\u200d media \u2064companies make money\u200b from clicks, according to Mr. Templeton. The media \u201cuse scary models, and pretend their predictions are not just\u2062 hypotheses or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ahole-twitter-employees-melt-down-quit-over-musk-takeover-new-internal-messages-reveal-report\/\" title=\"\u2018A**hole\u2019: Twitter Employees Melt Down, Quit Over Musk Takeover, New Internal Messages Reveal: Report\">worst case scenarios<\/a>, but the most \u2064likely outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Experts are \u200dalso used to provide \u201ca veneer\u200b of \u200cauthority in your otherwise \u200dsubjective, bias-confirming \u2064piece.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This has lead \u200cto the majority of Americans not \u2063knowing the actual hospitalization rate \u2064from COVID \u2063in late 2020, according \u2064to Mr. Templeton, citing \u2064 <a href=\"https:\/\/news.gallup.com\/opinion\/gallup\/354938\/adults-estimates-covid-hospitalization-risk.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gallup research<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The \u200cmass hysteria over the fear of death can itself lead to adverse effects, even\u2062 without any physical infection.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Templeton gave the example of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/history\/how-soap-opera-virus-felled-hundreds-students-portugal-180962383\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">soap opera in Portugal<\/a> with a storyline in which there was an epidemic disease spreading. As a result, girls \u200cwho were watching the show massively fell ill in Portugal, without\u2064 any real epidemic existing.<\/p>\n<p>This was a \u201cmass psychogenic illness,\u201d according to a report by Smithsonian\u2062 Magazine.<\/p>\n<p>During COVID, the reality was that children \u2063were not \u200cgetting seriously sick and healthy \u2064adults \u2063were \u2062also fine, according \u200dto Mr. Templeton. However, symptoms could still manifest in healthy\u2063 people as a psychogenic illness,\u200c due to \u200btheir \u2064fear, or COVID stress syndrome.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat&#8217;s just basically a\u2064 version of being a germophobe, activated by COVID,\u201d Mr. Templeton said regarding COVID stress syndrome, citing\u200c the book \u201cThe Psychology of Pandemics,\u201d\u200b which was published just\u200d before.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>interview, stating that the emphasis on safety during the COVID-19 pandemic led to unprecedented restrictions on public freedom. In his book, &#8220;Fear of a Microbial Planet: How a Germophobic Safety Culture Makes Us Less Safe,&#8221; Templeton explores the consequences of a culture that prioritizes safety above all else.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2382,"featured_media":2022115,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2022114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2022114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2382"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2022114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2022114\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2022115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2022114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2022114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2022114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}