Weinstein repeated discredited theories to Rogan about HIV not being the cause of AIDS, alarming and infuriating public health experts.  

Bret Weinstein, the evolutionary biology professor turned podcaster and ivermectin guy, repeated a series of discredited pseudo-theories about AIDS in a recent appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast. Weinstein, a frequent guest, told Rogan that he found the theory that party drugs like poppers cause AIDS to be “surprisingly compelling.” (It is not.) Weinstein also told Rogan he came to these ideas by reading a recent book by anti-vaccine activist and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, creating a sort of unholy turducken of misinformation passed onto an audience of millions. 

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    I fucking hate Rogan so much. Maybe it’s unfair of me, but I always think less of a person if I hear them say the words “I heard on Joe Rogan…”

    • sebinspace@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      No, that’s also my instinctive reaction. Right up there with Jordan Peterson and Andrew Tate.

    • Son_of_dad@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      He gives a platform to misinformation, and sits there like an ape, listening to his guests spew bullshit, while he nods and goes “that’s good point” and legitimizes their lies. He does this on purpose but claims he’s just an idiot asking questions, when he’s clearly pushing an agenda

    • SoleInvictus@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Same here. My otherwise progressive’ish mother-in-law listens to him because she enjoys the interviews. I love her to death but it’s hard to keep my mouth shut whenever she tells us the latest bullshit Rogan has shat out.

    • stoly@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      I feel the same way. The moment someone speaks positively of them, I have suddenly lost respect.

  • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    he found the theory that party drugs like poppers cause AIDS to be “surprisingly compelling.”

    What does he mean with this? Is he claiming that AIDS isn’t caused by the HIV virus, or is he claiming that poppers (the chemical amyl nitrate) when consumed by a human causes the spontaneous creation of the HIV virus inside the person?

    Neither of those makes sense.

    • surewhynotlem@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      I think he’s saying that last time he got high off poppers he had unprotected butt sex with a known infected partner.

      It’s the only logical conclusion.

    • ashok36@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      The most generous interpretation is he’s saying drugs suppress the immune system so drug use causes AIDS. This would be fairly falsifiable if we had data showing non drug users also develop AIDS and… Oh wait we have fuck loads of evidence showing that and Weinstein proves himself an idiot. Again.

      • Meowoem
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        9 months ago

        Please, can you point to a single person that’s ever got aids without doing poppers?

        Ha see I knew you couldn’t, that’s literally hundreds of millions of people you’re pointing at and I said a single person, I win again lefty!!!

        (I guess people really do need a /s on Lemmy?)

    • Jaytreeman@kbin.social
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      9 months ago

      Haven’t listened. Haven’t read.
      AIDS is the Acquired ImmunoDeficiency Syndrome.
      The most charitable take is he’s saying HIV isn’t the only way to acquire it.
      Personally, I gave a lot of charity to rogan between 2014 & 2020. I don’t have any charity left for either of those racist xenophobic cucks

  • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    My people didn’t lose a generation for this bullshit.

    Also AIDS is preventable, AIDS is treatable, and if you’re sexually active outside of monogamy you’re potentially being exposed to HIV regardless of the kind of sex you have. Straight people having PIV can spread HIV, oral can spread it with any genitals. If you’re sexually active get tested regularly. If it’s caught early you can avoid negative consequences. And if you have reason to believe you’ve been exposed go to an emergency room immediately and tell them. There’s basically a morning after pill for HIV (there’s also an equivalent to birth control called PrEP)

    • BobGnarley@lemm.ee
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      9 months ago

      I thought I was exposed one time (turned out it was all good) and went to the ER to tell them and they told me they didn’t have that medication and that it was extremely expensive. Good old Texas.

      • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Yeah that’s terrible. When AIDS breaks out it is always a governmental failure. I’d’ve given the first time a pass but holy fucking shit did the government fail then too. If a hospital lacks PEP and if government and insurance don’t make it worth taking just in case they’re risking citizens lives

  • Vast_Emptiness@programming.dev
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    9 months ago

    Who the f**k take this 2 clowns serious? And Joe Rogan, that dude …is a gold mine for this shit and stupid topics.

    • Bahalex@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      I dunno. The guy got a bunch of radio equipment from when he worked at WNYX, started a pirate radio station then moved on to podcasts…

      It’s all there in his Wikipedia

      “ He also espouses various conspiracy theories, particularly with regard to the government’s suppression of information about extraterrestrial life.”

  • SoleInvictus@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Bret Weinstein: a perfect example of how you can be educated and still be a complete fucking moron.

    Or

    Educated, possibly intelligent, and a soulless grifter taking advantage of complete fucking morons.

    Either way he’s a goddamn turd in a turd suit.

  • lennybird@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Joe Rogan realized he could cast a dragnet across the nation for the most ignorant, gullible viewers and, like Alex Jones, sell them bullshit. This bullshit being pushed to the audience is paid for by the highest bidder that Rogan then injects into his dialogue.

    Then again, I wonder if he’s just a stoner wholeheartedly embracing the Dunning-Kruger Effect, thinking he’s got it allllll figured out.

    Do you think he’s aware of the false equivalence fallacy he props up when he would bring on, say, an anti-vaxxer person and then 1 pro-vaxx person but not recognize that there’s probably 999 pro-vaxx infectious disease experts, doctors, scientists for every one anti-vaxxer? What if he interviewed with proportionality?

    • SupraMario@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Rogan flips like a pancake. One day he’ll have Tyson on then the next this baked potato who got his info from a guy who wrote a book using the baked potatoes info… it’s a feedback loop of idiots. Rogan just likes money.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      The Joe Rogan sort of show used to be relegated to midnight on AM radio. Coast-to-Coast Art Bell/George Noory stuff. Except at least Bell and Noory weren’t meathead assholes.

      • admin
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        9 months ago

        I’ve never listened or even watched one of his podcasts. I don’t even know the guy outside of that, so that makes me wonder why you consider him a meathead asshole lol.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Then again, I wonder if he’s just a stoner wholeheartedly embracing the Dunning-Kruger Effect, thinking he’s got it allllll figured out.

      I mean, he’s rich well into the hundreds of millions of dollars. The guy has never been dumb, per say. He’s just made a career of playing a dummy on TV.

      Dude knows what he’s doing (or, he did at one point, perhaps before he fried his brain with DMT).

      Do you think he’s aware of the false equivalence fallacy

      I don’t think he particularly cares. He’s had pro-vax guys on his show. He’s had anti-vax guys. The dude is a Carney and his show is a three-ring circus. You can always find something to scratch your libidinal itch in there somewhere.

      but not recognize that there’s probably 999 pro-vaxx infectious disease experts, doctors, scientists for every one anti-vaxxer?

      Idk about that statistic. There’s certainly a healthy amount of denialism and conspiracy theory in mass media. Probably give you 10:1 on a good day.

      But even if it was 1 pro-vax doctor in 100 antis, the numbers don’t really matter. What matters is the spectacle of two people arguing a point the audience will never have the education to verify one way or another.

      This is, at its heart, infotainment. It isn’t about who is right and who is wrong. Its about putting people in a ring together and have them duke it out with words. Then cutting to another ring where MMA guys duke it out with fists.

      His show is about fighting. That’s all he wants.

        • GladiusB@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Some would argue it is one way to measure a type of intelligence. Money gives the freedom to explore our deepest desires. Which is a freedom most don’t have. And it’s a freedom most want. In that way, he is intelligent.

          • lennybird@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            That confers access, which relates to knowledge. Knowledge is not intelligence.

            Donald Trump got $412 million from his daddy. This in no way shape or form makes him intelligent.

            • GladiusB@lemmy.world
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              9 months ago

              This is a straw man. I in no way compared a trust fund to someone that earned with their own work. Granted I am not a Rogan fan. But I can’t blame him for being a host and entertaining people. He is a circus. And I don’t like that circus. But I understand others can like it.

            • GladiusB@lemmy.world
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              9 months ago

              You skipped every sentence and made shortcuts. There is a reason I included the sentences I did.

              • chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                9 months ago

                Right, I’m not saying this is what you meant, I am saying I do not understand, explaining how far I got in guessing what you might have meant, and requesting further clarification, because your logic is hard to follow.

                • GladiusB@lemmy.world
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                  9 months ago

                  If a person works for their life to pursue their passions it is a self awareness. I respect that. I think most people do. He isn’t selling his soul. He just asks questions and is stupid about most stuff. He is a comedian. Has he said shocking things? Sure. Eminem has. Howard Stern has. Elvis has. So many artists have done what they needed to do to pursue their passions. And if that makes him deplorable, sure.

                  My point is that he earned his money to chase his passions and their is nothing wrong with having the freedom to do so. And planning for that for your own fulfillment is admirable. It is intelligent to be aware of yourself and your surroundings to work to achieve that.

          • RoosterBoy@lemm.ee
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            9 months ago

            Having freedom does not grant intelligence. Having money is NOT an accurate measurement of intelligence, especially in our current system. We can tell you enjoyed “Atlas Shrugged” which is a great measure of YOUR intelligence, which is none.

          • Clent@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            Some may argue that. I would argue those same people are morons.

            Having the freedom to explore our deepest desires doesn’t mean one does so. You are romanticized the wealthy.

            I suspect you fit inside the group sometimes referred to as “temporarily embarrassed millionaires” – i also suspect you disagree. I also suspect you think yourself more intelligent than you actually are.

            I also suspect that you feel me pointing this out indicates a fault in my personality rather than you being able to see it as a service to you. Polite society prevents the bottom half of the intellectual spectrum from being told they are in that bottom half.

      • voluble@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        The guy has never been dumb, per say

        Just to let you know, the expression is written ‘per se’:

        Borrowed from Latin per sē (“by itself”), from per (“by, through”) and sē (“itself, himself, herself, themselves”). Wiktionary source

    • kadu@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      I’m a biologist, during my graduation I had an entire 8 month virology class, with a module dedicated to HIV. Viruses and how HIV works also appeared in physiology, microbiology, farmacology and I believe cell morphology. The professor who taught me virology is one of my country’s leading experts and the most cited expert in his area - this person only decided to teach the bio students (he is a biologist himself) so the med students didn’t get to learn from the main expert in the building.

      Should a biologist provide somebody with an HIV infection diagnosis? No. Could a biologist recommend some sort of treatment or medication? No. Should a biologist instruct somebody to go against the recommendations of their doctor? No. Where I live, any of that would be illegal in fact, and no trained biologist would disagree.

      But biologists are absolutely capable of talking about HIV, how it works, how it spreads, and are indeed commonly the ones actually doing research into the virus and treatments.

      Your comment would be like saying “this physicist isn’t qualified to talk about gravity though. He’s not even an engineer!”

      (though yes, the mere suggestion that HIV comes from party drugs is moronic)

      • NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        I mean, he made an idiotic comment that goes against the entirety of what we know about hiv and aids. Biologist or not, he’s using an appeal to authority to spread misinformation.

        • kadu@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Sure, I agree. But that’s not what your comment said. Your comment specifically questioned why a biologist would talk about HIV and not a medical expert.

          • NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            And I stand by that comment. An evolutionary biologist has no business commenting on something he’s not an expert in.

            • kadu@lemmy.world
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              9 months ago

              So yes - my comment perfectly applies. If you believe a biologist has no business commenting on HIV, you don’t really understand what a biologist does or studies.

            • don@lemm.ee
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              9 months ago

              Do you hold multiple PhDs in computer science? No? Log off.

        • Dr_Satan@lemm.ee
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          9 months ago

          I mean, he made an idiotic comment that goes against the entirety of what we know about hiv and aids

          Actually, I don’t know it. I haven’t studied medicine or aids.

          I doubt that most of the other people here have either.

          We’re just repeating what we hear.

    • ZombiFrancis
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      9 months ago

      I actually took classes from Bret Weinstein, and knew him semi-personally outside the unversity.

      He is a pompous ass who really feels he has the keys to understanding and analyzing all topics.

      It was good for facilitating evolutionary biology discussons and seminars. It was terrible for everything else.

      I recommended he needed a sabbatical after my classes, and in 2 years he was chased off campus with baseball bats.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        He is a pompous ass who really feels he has the keys to understanding and analyzing all topics.

        My dad was a professor (in the humanities). So many of his colleagues thought that they knew everything about everything because they got a PhD on 13th century Lithuanian poetry or whatever. It really turned me off of academia growing up and seeing them all act like that.

        • ZombiFrancis
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          9 months ago

          Oh Bret had a whole rant about the humanities without a single drip of irony. I remember he handwaved the entire study of ecology in a seminar as “postmodernism.”

          He was my last class at TESC and he made me feel far more over it than I needed to be.

    • agent_flounder@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Biologist or not I want to know why a stupid person is qualified to talk about this. Fuck all these woowoo magic-thinking lunatic assholes.

  • ZombiFrancis
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    9 months ago

    Damnit Bret, I want you to personally refund the tuiton I spent in college taking your classes.

  • Gork@lemm.ee
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    9 months ago

    creating a sort of unholy turducken of misinformation

    fucking lol