First 20 Minutes of Vaccines: A Measured Response

Hey, Vsauce, HBomb here

I've read the paper before, but I missed the Fudenburg citation and here I thought the story about randomly drawing blood from kids at a birthday party for his study was as weird as the whole thing got (he redacted it but how weird to joke about that during a speech at Davis?). Interestingly enough, Wakefield also had a stake in and supposedly administered "oral measles virus-specific dialyzable lymphocyte extract transfer factor" to one of his study participants. And just so happened to apply for the patent with Fudenburg (https://patents.google.com/patent/GB2325856A/en). Nice of him to throw his co-inventor a citation like that, and to also cite his own paper's findings in the patent description.

Heather(s)

It's always good to hear people speak on the hurtful nature of viewing autistic people as worse than your child literally dying of an old disease, so I'm also glad you're going to cover that! Big red flag that he was an experimental gastroenterologist - that's not even remotely close to an expertise in neurodiversity... or systemic response from vaccines... Almost like he was never qualified to comment on this...

Sarah Cook

i’m really glad to hear you’re going to cover the “autism is bad” part of the anti-vax ideology, as an autistic person it’s always very hurtful to hear, and hearing more people explain why it’s bullshit is uh, really nice. i wish more people understood that being autistic isn’t a bad thing.

ok hype but where's pathologic 2 tho?!

black metal ist krieg

More HMom content!

Caffeine_unicorn

And every other author on this paper (except goddamn Wakefield because he's busy grifting in Texas) has distanced themselves from this garbage fire posing as research. I didn't know about Fudenburg. When we discussed this paper in grad school (in the context of aggressively bad research), we never really went into the works cited because the content of the article itself was already so bad as to be dismissed prima facie.

Oxnard Mantalvo

HALLIGAN, WHERE ARE MY SCISSORS?

C2

I really hope more people go and dig up the study on their own. I'm too stupid to make much sense of it, but seeing the giant read "RETRACTED" across every page is kind of hilarious. It really drives home the bonker-tude of this whole thing.

Adam Greene

when I click the play button, it gives me an error message. does anyone know how to fix this?

I recommend using identity-first language for autistic people. Don't say "people with autism", say "autistic people", or even just "autistics". It isn't offensive in the same way as saying, for example, "epileptics", because it's not an illness.

Thanks for mentioning that you will be discussing neurodiversity. It’s important to keep saying that people on the autism spectrum can be very smart, they can be wonderfully witty, and they can be warm and kind.

Shella Chace

..would your wife be up for doing any consulting?

Kat Lo

I remember something about them all getting bloodwork done at his kid's birthday party? Idk if I'm right though

RJ Blue

keep coming back to this for the little camera woman snicker. i love it.

Another couple thoughts: 1. Wasn't there some actual fraud in the Wakefield paper (forged data)? 2. Another flaw in the Wakefield study is that pretty much all kids got the MMR vaccine, so there is no control group.

Adam Iaizzi

Looks great, I can't wait to see the rest! I noticed a small stumble of your words. At around 16:40 you say "if you count the parents who's opinions Wakefield decided to substitute for his own..." I think you said that backwards, didn't he substitute *his* opinion for *theirs*? As in he reported the MMR dates even though the parents didn't blame MMR.

Adam Iaizzi

haha lol. If it's any consolation I knew it looked bad and kept it that way for the video and immediately shaved it down

Hbomb

Started watching, but can't concentrate cause the walrusyness of your mustache is too distracting

if you still wanna make Profitable Merch Designs you should definitely make a mask that says: don't catch the plague shithead.

extremely good!

(Gay) Rosencrantz

Loved it! I'm so excited to get to see this! Also, don't listen to the haters, I love your longer videos! Also, I checked back at the 830 mark and that is not how the alt right uses the triple parentheses thing in my experience. What ever that's worth. Keep up the good work Harris!

Om non nom, I'm hungry for more content, is March still the timeline? 😂

bmueller

I'm so excited! I's coming along well

swheatheart

They'd look better on a line with the lol I think

With Quiet Eyes

@8:30 in the video, am I the only one who feels weird about three parenthesis? -_-

Gumby with a sombrero

I agree that the sound effects on the profiteroles are unnecessary and distracting

Farlands Fiction

There's a really interesting series of papers by Kasperson et al. about The Social Amplification of Risk Framework, which sets out a really clear structure describing how people's perception of risk can be amplified to the point of distortion by social actors, structures and interactions. They're on z-lib, I think. I realise this probably isn't the best time to let you know about them, given you've finished your video.

Peter Kelly

Overall great but I think you should cut the added sound effects for like, that whooshing noise or the squishy sound the profiteroles make. idk, especially in the case of the profiteroles its fairly obvious that the sounds are added due to how loud they are and its sort of distracting. it would be fine without the added sounds.

SorchaSublime

WHAT?!?!?!?

Aaron Nemoyten

I watched this with my wife, who is a clinical pharmacist at Stanford Children's Hospital. She enjoyed it and had no complaints about the content, so you're definitely on the mark there. She also laughed a few times, which is a also a big deal because she usually HATES the kind of goofy youtube humor I like!

Aaron Nemoyten

Also, this is REALLY funny. Excellent use of visual gags and callbacks as always. Big F in the chat for you missing the T-shirt opp.

As an autistic person whose parents baselessly have assigned “blame” for my condition (which I’m frankly glad I have) on vaccines, it’s been incredibly discouraging to see how many people would literally rather their children and others potentially *die* than their kids have autism- based on the flimsiest science I’ve ever seen. Thank you for tackling this topic. There are few people I would trust to lend nuance to the correct places, and to be respectful of autistic experiences in a critical analysis. I look forward to seeing the finished video.

Hey, just wanted to say as an Autistic person I have faith in you criticising the negative attitudes against Autism. Last year I had to resign from my job due to negative feedback which was related to my autism, and especially after Sia’s movie that got f*****g nominated for awards, I believe society has a long way to go before excepting us for who we are.

Ciarán Saunders

The "I wonder why the Economist interviewed Contrapoints and not me" gag killed me XD

Darron Perry Jr

Watching this I almost feel that people assumptions and attitude toward autism should get a measured response. In any case I’m sure in your video you’ll bring up unvaccinated people who got autism anyway?

jasonseacord

(By which I mean, if it’s not clear, it becomes blurry and hard to read due to the video encoding at those resolutions)

Jessica Stokes

One thing I would note is that the red text highlight compresses really badly when watched on a phone screen, toning down the saturation would probably help a good deal

Jessica Stokes

I hope you mention in the full video how appalling and unethical it was of Andrew Wakefield to subject autistic children to unnecessary colonoscopies without oversite of an ethics committee (because no ethics committee on the planet would authorise such a thing)

I did feel that there were slightly too many cut-away jokes in the first 5-10 minutes- I think if I was a new viewer I'd get frustrated like 'hurry up and talk about the thing I'm here to learn about!'. I do love the jokes, but perhaps they could be a little more spaced out or later on? I adore the mum cameo though. That was absolute gold.

gojo fujoshi

Idk if this has been pointed out yet but there's 170+ comments and I'm not reading them all. @3:30 you say "52 seconds" but the text reads "53 seconds"

Matthew Morris

lovely, can't wait to watch it 5 times so I can stop feeling emotions for about 10 hours

Nowhere Girl

Yeah I think we like making fun of him for his evopsych style approach to social psychology. I actually have enjoyed reading his books but I hate the ways they teach people to make inferences about people or cultures

Kat Lo

Amazing so far. The funny parts work, the tone and music is pitch-perfect for what you're going with, the spontaneity is great, and as someone who wasn't diagnosed as autistic til I was 21, I'll be very interested to see how vast the level of stigmatizism of it all is. All in all, can't wait to watch the whole thing with a tub of Ben & Jerry's in the dark! ^_^ P.S Your mother is amazing and deserves some kind of gateau.💖 P.P.S I NEED THAT FLAT EARTH T-SHIRT, WHERE CAN I GET ONE?!

I liked it! Here are my notes: 1. it feels a little fast-paced, especially towards the beginning. If that’s the energy you’re going for, good job! Otherwise, I do think a little pacing in the beginning would make it more digestible. 2. I don’t understand the Malcolm Gladwell comment—as a pop psych communicator I’m sure he’s supported evo psych as a framework for looking at something before, but that’s much different than being an evolutionary psychologist (I’m a little biased though because I do like Malcolm Gladwell) maybe Richard Dawkins might be a better pick for that sort of joke? otherwise, great job!

Jarrod Sage

"its just a bunch of parents opinions!?!?!" rapid onset gender dysphoria research, is that you?

xlashe

Yeah!

Hbomb

Will you include your sources in the description of the video?

Corran MacCorran

I didn't take the mom joke that way, I took it as her saying that maybe an autistic son would have been better! But idk, I wasn't offended by it but I'm just one autistic person lmao, the last thing I'd do would be try and speak for all

Ryan

I love all your videos but the pathologic 2 tease is giving me life rn.

Kristy Young

i would wear the frame of harris' stretched face underneath "dont catch the plague shithead" on a mask

YeeeRCT

I don't think you need to change anything.

stompanie

You're editing chops are getting even thicker. As someone familiar with Wakefield's work I'm not entirely surprised with what has been presented so far, but being familiar with those works puts me in the minority. Keep on trucking, clearly my patreon bucks are going to a good cause (no sarcasm).

This is a great breakdown of "the study" that even I learned new information about and I've been studying and debating vaccines for many years. I hope that you talk about Brian Deer, who helped take Wakefield down. But I have to say, I've been waiting for a "Measured Response" video from you for awhile and you covering one of my favorite topics makes me really happy. I look forward to the full video!

Yeah, but going too far for a sight gag is a fair bit of the fun of an Hbomberguy video.

Heidi Hickman

I like Malcolm Gladwell, but he does deserve some healthy ego deflation for some of his reasoning. He isn’t a scientific person, but he publishes books in which he take a “science-ish” look at his chosen subjects.

Heidi Hickman

So you probably have stuff planned out pretty tightly and your video sounds like it's really long already, but when you talk about ableism and discrimination towards autistic people, you might consider bringing up Changeling myths as a potent comparison. After all, Changeling myths were myths made to explain why a baby might not be "normal" - the anti-vax movement is practically a modern equivalent. As someone who grew up autistic, it'd be cathartic to have the painful hatred and damaging thought process behind these beliefs acknowledged. Even John Oliver's response to "vaccines cause autism" was "there's no proof and there's been so many tests", without any added "and you subconsciously discriminate against autistic people, and fuck that." Blegh. Anyway. Regardless of whether or not you take this advice, good luck with the video!

Lol at the parents who think that just because they noticed the autism post-vaccine that it didn’t exist before, like I didn’t realise I was autistic till I was 23 but that didn’t stop me infodumping about Doctor Who at every opportunity age 11. They’re just upset their child isn’t ‘normal’ and are looking for something to blame, which is of course a very normal way to respond to having a child who doesn’t like eye contact. Sorry I don’t have anything more constructive to say, it’s a good video and I’m excited to see more!!

Jake Williams

Fun video so far! Excited to see the rest! My only issue is that the red highlight on black text can be difficult to read even at the large zooms, but (at least on the standard size player) is almost impossible for me to read at the smaller zooms (like around 16:00, not when you block sections out). I think there are highlight/text color accessibility charts floating around the internet that could help (I was able to find a helpful one by searching 'highlight and text color visibility').

Danny Couch

It seems like this is gonna be a great video, the only possible thing I thought could be improved is the bit with the smoke machine, I think it might be more funny to just never explain why a smoke machine keeps going off. Like you show you trying to talk and it keep going off and it just cuts to you talking whilst standing without the explanation. It's probably just me but I thought I'd put it out there, keep up the great work.

52 is under 53!

Hbomb

Thanks! I feel the same way looking at it now. I'll shorten it!

Hbomb

I misspelled opinion and then decided to misspell it worse for a joke

Hbomb

Great start can't wait for the rest, I agree with another commenter who said the 'hanging up the picture' gag goes on a bit long. other than that though, great!

Darn, and now I will never know if it would have take 52 (in text) or 53 (on voice-over) seconds to get through the explainer!

Enname

Ok, definitely a trigger/content warning for close ups of needles. Like, it's a vaccine video so needle content should be expected, but the opening bit was a surprise even to me, I know it would cause issues with one of my friends who has Trauma w/ them.

Jocelyn Cade

From what I can tell of the autistic community, they tend to prefer Autistic Person, rather than Person With Autism, because that tends to be used alongside the narrative that autism can be separated from the person/cured

Jocelyn Cade

Wherems't may I purchase that flat Earth shirt? I don't have production notes really, I just want to acquire material possessions until there are enough of them to protect me from the outside world.

Ritchy Ingpiece

The pictured 'green apple' flavour tastes reasonably similar to a tart apple. Like a not-quite-ripe Granny Smith or a medium-dry cider.

Ritchy Ingpiece

Yep, stupid is as stupid does. I liked the vid and look forward to the rest. But that’s just my opinion. Others mileage may vary.

I feel like the "hanging the picture" gag is dragged out a little too long. Could probably cut out some time on each of the steps in the process and it'd still be a good gag, but the combination of the number of steps and the length of each is a bit much.

Bfahome

At 11:43 it says onoinp not opinion. Not sure if this is deliberately done as a joke tho

Hernan Perez-Mckay

Great video. Just a few notes; Firstly would just recommend looking into whether you're going to use Person First or Identity First language for the autistic community. I personally don't have a strong preference either way but I think consistency is. Secondly from a precedent POV I think Wakefield's status as a (former) gastroenterologist might be worth further attention as diet seems to be the latest fad 'cure' being peddled for both autism and Covid (see camel milk.) It's also disturbing that bleach has been proposed as a cure for both. Lastly i

You putting up the poster made me cry laugh, Thanks man.

I did comment this already on YouTube, but I love the nods to Action Button

FYI doctors use 'symptoms' to describe effects of disease reported by patients and 'signs' to describe effects picked up by the doctor on examination. So signs still had an association with disease, at least for healthcare workers

Steve B

I think the peer review failures are really clear also, how on earth was this published and why did the senior author put their name to it? Its not like this data is very complex, its a table of 12 parental opinions about their child, it shouldn't have been published, especially in a prestigious journal.

You need to correct "pathologic is real now" with "I MADE pathologic real now" I know you wanted to make everyone play pathologic. You dont just make a video about video game plague a month before a real one

GhostSnake

He looks like he's kidnapping you, but he sounds like he's taking you down from an anxiety attack.

Luke Maudsley

Really glad to hear that the rest of the video will cover the ableism inherent in the anti-vax movement. On that note I've got one minor nitpick re: this preview. A lot of autistic people, myself included, prefer describing them as "traits" rather than "symptoms"; the latter cuts a bit too close to describing it like a disease. (Also, I literally just went and checked the NHS website and they use "signs"). It's understandable given that the scientific literature you read for this video is a few decades old and still described them as symptoms, so if it's too late to change it it's fine. Just thought I'd point it out for the future though. Looking forward to the finished video!

Aisling Bones

HMommerGal

Nick DeCicco

Digging your new hairstyle!

What are you going to do when you run out of wall to destroy?

I kind of feel for some of the authors who weren't Wakefield; this feels like a study where medics have noticed similar symptoms in a few patients, wanted to get a paper out quickly and the first authorship has ended up in the wrong hands. I wonder how thoroughly they all read the final version before it went out - most of the authors seem keen to distance themselves from this paper now. It highlights some flaws in the peer review system, too - if you're asking busy people to review articles like this for free, who's actually going to take time to look too deeply into any anomalies? I'll be interested to see if there's time for anything about the ethical dodginess of doing invasive, and arguably unnecessary, procedures on young kids!

The funny bits work really well, especially the one with your mum, and the sciency parts are really clear. The editing and camera work are good, and the rhythm works really well. I wish I had constructive criticism but I'm coming up empty. Keep it up ! This might indeed be your best work yet !

iamthefernman

Love it (sorry I don't have any meaningful criticisms, all I do is consume)

Tom Nicholas

I'm so happy you're going to cover the stigmatization of people with autism. Putting aside all the suspect "evidence" of the claims - if we assume those who believe vaccines cause autism are correct, then their answer boils down to, "Death by measles is better than the chance I might have a child with autism." What an absolutely horrific viewpoint. People with autism are already stigmatized enough with the disinformation out there on their condition, media representation, etc. But to say death (or even extreme illness! Measles is not a "mild" virus, not to mention everything else we vaccinate for) is an acceptable alternative to autism is unconscionable. The fact that there are parents with autistic children in this group is mind boggling. Is that really how they feel about their own children? Anyway, thank you. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the video!

Megan Johnson

LOVE the video so far! I’m really excited to see the piece about the way autistic people are stigmatized in this conversation. I’m autistic & have ADHD and I’ve always felt like your videos just happened to be structured for my exact sense of humour & way of thinking, so it’s especially cool to see you make a video on this particular issue. Based on the first 20 minutes, I’m sure you & your team are doing an amazing job. :)

RJ Blue

My notes are going to exclusively be about mistakes and things I would change, which may seem a little negative, so before I begin I just want you to know: Your video is really good. Now, criticism: The joke with your mom saying you weren't vaccinated and that it "didn't seem to help" in relation to you acting weird kind of comes off as making fun of autistic people. At 8:32 the parentheses aren't placed right. At around 18:26, I'd love to hear the reading of "normal" be distorted. Good of you to point out how yikes it is right after though. Other than that, I think it's good. Looking forward to seeing the finished product!

Discrot

I had to pause mid vid to tell you that your mum's a comedic genius

sssilppuri

Some excellent chaos gremlin vibes in this

Fran Hancox

Not that you've set the precedent, you and Lindsay must always do the Spongebob joke for each other. The pact is sealed!

Andrew H

wow, i'm super excited for this video to come out! it's desperately needed right now, and i love the way the script and the editing are really tight and yet easy to follow. also, i laughed SO HARD when you started destroying your wall to hang the picture. what a visual. one thing that i don't really like (and that you won't be able to change in this video, but maybe keep it in mind for future videos) is that because your camera operator is (presumably) shorter than you, i constantly get the feeling you're talking down to me. it's a seemingly tiny thing but it throws off your usual vibe quite a bit. i just went back to check: in your older videos, the camera is usually positioned at your eye level, which makes you seem much more down-to-earth and approachable. i think she does a great job, though, and her shots look really good! maybe just get her a box to stand on next time :)

Will Barker

I think the issue isn’t so much that the paper didn’t prove anything as it is that people (including Mr. Andrew Wakefield) wave the paper around AS IF it does when it explicitly doesn’t.

RJ Blue

Hey! This is looking good. I just have one note as someone who worked briefly in science. The fact that a study does not prove something does not necessarely make it a bad study. Sometimes you do not have the budget or enough specimen to prove something but you may feel that your findings deserve another bigger research. Maybe another scientist will read your study and feel like they observed something similar, etc. Then fundings can be easier to find. I can't speak for every field but this is definitely the case in paleontology and it is not rare to conclude a paper by saying : current findings did not prove (this or that) and we need to do further research. I hope this helps!

Hey Harry! Loved the visuals, tone, and pacing in the video. The jokes were hilarious and I can't wait to see where it goes from here. There's seriously only one, tiny thing I'd change about the video at all, and it's that I'd have loved to see a bit more time between you stroking your chin and then stroking the skeleton's chin. That's it, love you, stay safe

Thanks for posting and asking for notes! I think it might be worth mentioning that the column in the table from the paper that indicates the reported causes says something like reported from “parents or doctors” at first I was confused by this because of the earlier segment about all of the associations only being indicated by the parents. Now I think that it was a sneaky way for the authors to give the associations more legitimacy then they really had. But since it confused me at first it may be worth adding a line to clear up why the title of the column included “or doctors”. Thanks!

Mr. Martini

Youtube recommended I watch Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights after your video. Must be because of all the screaming.

Keef Baker

My only request is a merch shirt featuring a bath full of teeth.

OrangeFlavouredPineapple

The incredibly disgusting eating of profiteroles sounds like throwing up, so I threw up. Thought I'd let you know.

Dani Gould

I know the video is nearly finished and being unhinged is kinda on brand as well as an act, this is making me uncomfortably worried for your mental well being. Personally for me it crosses the line from funny to being disheartening to watch. Regarding the rest of the video, I feel like the part about debunking the paper could be more succinct. For example the part with the table listing the patients/their parents could be run down quicker, I feel it drags a bit. I do like that you mention the link between the timings of vaccination and symptom onset being correlation not causation. I also hope you drag the journal a bit more. People try to publish bs all the time for more funding, and journals make shit loads of money from being paid to give the paper to editors who makes no money to read it over. Any editor worth their salt should have caught the nonsense that was this paper and told the journal not to publish it, but they probably wanted the drama and added coverage.

Clara R

looking good! honestly the pathologic reference really got me because i rewatched that video recently and let me tell you its an experience right now. im really glad you are going to mention the stigma about autism that was going to be my question so thats that. the squishy sounds you use for your balls always make me cringe but thats a me problem. great work so far from everyone! excited to see the finished product

Calysto

A few little notes for ya gorgeous people; 1 - More Mum Bomberguy in the future. 2 - It might be worth mentioning somewhere, even just at the start, that you and anyone who assisted you with film etc was done under covid guidelines. Just so you don’t have a worry of people going “see you don’t even listen to your own rules blah blah blah” 3 - It’s so very well put together. There is a dynamic flow to the video editing which keeps one engaged even when talking about the denser material in the study. 4 - I saw a comment that questioned the use of “the paper” as it has no agency. Completely agree, perhaps hit home that it’s Wakefield rather than the paper as much as one can. 5 - I spat out tea about 4 times watching it so thanks Harry gotta clean my carpet now. Bastard. Love you.

Wow, really cool stuff! Feels very tightly scripted and expertly edited compared to previous vids. Speaking of...I wonder if others feel like it's becoming a bit *too* tightly edited for hbomber-style videos? I kinda get this sense of weird dissonance from the visibly higher production quality but then same humor and delivery as before. Like they feel somewhat incompatible? Maybe it's just the nostalgia talking as a longtime viewer, but there's this special feeling I get from watching a creator try their best to convey ideas within the constraints of their skills or budget or whatnot, that later makes the content lose some of its charm when the constraints disappear. Not saying this has happened completely, but I get the creeping feeling it's sort of headed in that direction. Anyway, not a problem per se, more of an observation and wondering if others feel the same. Can't wait for the full thing, thanks for showing it to us!

stushi

Feedback: 3/5 - Not enough Cream

Ian Priest

Despite the life imitating art, a video on Pathologic 2 would still be very welcome, just wanted to note.

It's looking super good - great use of music, it really stood out to me. Also Harry I know you use After Effects a lot, you should really try a plugin called "Motion 3". It's a great for adding detailed easing without having to twiddle with the graph editor for ages. Saves me so much time on a day-to-day basis I can't recommend it enough (I'm an animator)

Dana Stoof

"Pathologic is real now, don't catch the plague shithead" would make a great shirt.

Josh Moberly

Some notes: - I wouldn't say "the paper" does something sneaky, or "the paper" claims [x]. The paper has no agency, but real living people were responsible for the drivel and the nonsensical claims. It's pretty easy to see a scientific paper and assume it coagulated into being from primordial science goo and forget that there are actual humans who are responsible for its creation. I wouldn't absolve those humans from their science crimes. Instead, call them out by name or as "the authors" and make them the subject doing the action. - Not as sold on this note, but the title of Part II could be some sort of a play on the iconic words that will forever be your legacy, a la "Wakefield's paper is garbage, and here's..." before exploding the title card and the editor/producer getting angry about you reusing that trope. Haven't really workshopped that one. - Also, am lawyer. Let me know if you would like any spot checks for the legally sensitive stuff, or any various other lawyerings.

OKAY FINISHED IT. I have more to actually say on the part after this bc I’m autistic, and not a scientist. BUT first thing I did after this was look up the study to briefly read about the subjects. They “tested” eleven boys.... and one girl. this study seemed to follow the claim that autism is “predominantly male” which is..... debatably just as nonsensical as the study itself. Granted, this started before Wakefield’s study, but it is another lie that this study subtly perpetuates, that hinders the autistic community as a whole. Hope you’ve included that in the second part even briefly, but if not like. That could be a whole other video and also only a quarter of what this video covers?? So all good, I will take motherly disses instead.

You are starting to look dangerously like David Cage.

Tenchigumi no Anthony Ha

I'm not sure about this but I think... I think Hbomb's mum is from Yorkshire. I'm very sure that she's adorable though.

Pär Stern

Really excited for this, and not trying to rush anything but this video is very important and urgently needed now that anti-vaxx attitudes are already affecting the rollout of the vaccines.

John Mapley

I know I should wait to comment after watching the whole video rather than three minutes in but More disses from your mom please.

this video is why i still have facebook

Jade Austin

some very minor things - the text in the title card for part one is center-aligned, and "one" is spelled out. the text in the title card for part two is left-aligned and "2" is not spelled out. the font used around 12:55 while talking about the average age of appearance of autism symptoms and the average age of getting the MMR shot is more of a typeface that seems like it would be used in something geared toward children or that's more lighthearted. I know my second point is incredibly minor, but I've listened to my visual communications teacher talk about fonts and typefaces for hours these past two weeks.

Elisha Varga

Omg thanks for pointing out this detail!!

Kat Lo

Pleased to hear Sewer Surfin'. Disappointed that it isn't the mariachi version. Excited for the waiting puzzle.

Nick H

can't wait to force my mother, an anti-vax nurse (i wish i were kidding), to watch this once it's done lol. great work as always. thanks, y'all :)

Gale

Can't wait for the full video, this is great stuff!

Delvan Neville

Amazing as always, can't wait to see the final result! One quick thought--Disintegrative Disorder is actually encompassed in autism spectrum disorder in the DSM-5. That there was this diagnostic uncertainty for the children is a criticism of the study, but my only note would be the disintegrative disorder is still in the realm of the autism spectrum and maybe not so unrelated as the name might suggest! Likely a nitpick!

Really liked this!! Great to hear from someone who has read the paper and looked into all the facts

Michelle S

Having seen a lot of coverage of anti-vax people in traditional media, I really appreciate the confident tone here since it emotionally conveys the certainty of the evidence against anti-vax conspiracies. It's one of the things your videos do best and I'm anxious to see it realized for the full scope of this topic; it's easy to see why this would be one that you and the team are most proud of. I also have really been digging this faster paced Hbomb style like in the New Vegas video. The quick clip of the editing really enhances the jokes and makes for a more captivating experience. I don't really have any critical feedback for the video to make this comment more usefully constructive, but I wanted to leave a note anyway since it seems like what I mentioned are intentional choices, and I wanted to highlight that they are definitely coming across. I'm super excited for the full version.

Ed Byrne

This looks fantastic! I can only imagine how difficult it must be to narrow down the topics you want to cover, what with so many interesting problems to address in this shit-o-sphere.

ian j browne

Fantastic! Great start to the video. Glad to hear the Bomberman 64 soundtrack getting some love!

Minky

i am enjoying the callbacks to the fact that h*rses don’t exist from the climate denial video

Now we can sue anybody!!

Kat Lo

I am THRILLED to hear your voice again!

Jenny He

Shouldn't it be "Anti-vaxxers: A Measured Response" since anti-vaxxers are who you're responding to?

Also, on a note relevant as heck, i just spotted this post in r/conspiracynopol (that should be for non-political conspiracies). This is a "drop" with a lot of conspiracy documentaries and stuff, among which is 'How Hollywood used Predictive Programming For The Covid 19 Global Pandemic.mp4'. Here's the link: https://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracyNOPOL/comments/luuo89/occult_documentaries_drop/

Ólafur Aronsson

If you need more information, seriously, go read r/conspiracy on reddit. You might have a laugh..and a cry...and another laugh.

Ólafur Aronsson

I can't wait to see the complete video. This has been something that is personal because two of my best friends are virulently anti-vaxxer and they have four kids now. And with the covid vaccines starting to get distributed now, we are seeing more bullshit being spread. Take the time to get it right and perfect it and you will every reason to be proud!

The video is looking amazing!!

Poorly Fleshed Skeleton

Ooh look who has lawyers now.

Evan Pitkin

I’m so glad I paid for this

Speaking as an autistic person this owns and I'm super glad you're going to be covering the stigma against us. The idea that people would rather their children be dead than like us is genuinely horrifying to me.

Samael

Really enjoyed this section of video and as an autistic person I'm glad to hear you're tackling that side of it, too many discussions on the subject neglect to mention that even if vaccines did cause autism, that's better than dying of measles, autism is not a tragedy. One question that may or may not be answered in the rest of the video occurred to me: you mention that The Lancet seemed suspicious of the paper even before it was published, which really makes me wonder why it was published in the first place. Did Wakefield have that much influence?

Cliff Excellent

Oh my GOD I can’t wait for you to see a cartoon we commissioned back in November.

Kat Lo

Really great stuff! My only note is that it might be worth pointing out that it is super rare and severe to actually lose a qualification over a retracted paper - most paper retractions are embarrassing, sure, but they don't usually result in the end of someone's career. Honestly though, the Lancet should never have published that paper to begin with. I don't know if you want to talk about it, but Wakefield engaged in some really shoddy ethics to get his results. He didn't get proper consent from the parents, he collected samples at a child's birthday party (hence the small sample size), he did not declare competing financial interests, and exposed the children to unnecessary and invasive procedures. None of this necessarily invalidates his study, but when this is the ONLY evidence you have and Wakefield remains a prominent figure in the anti-vax movement, I think it's worth knowing to what lengths he will go to disregard the truth and push his shitty ideas.

All-Natural Fig Jam

camera movements and the editing /cuts feel really good i think. the animation is great :>

Yeah a 'this video was filmed according to the coronavirus regulations and all safety measures were implemented' or that but better worded, at the beginning/end would probably be a smart move.

Ben Pike

I think we’re trying to convey the spirit of that with “a few parents opinions” because for an exploratory clinical paper a small sample size isn’t inherently bad (what’s bad re:sample size is how the press took it up and how Wakefield presented it as being more than it was).

Kat Lo

Agree it's worth pointing out that 12 is a ridiculously small sample size to begin with, and then it's further pared down by the data manipulation.

All-Natural Fig Jam

Love you too

I'd still buy a questionably profitable t-shirt of the climate change meme

Ben Pike

The camera feels so much more dynamic in this video and active than your others, which I imagine stems from having Rachel there to physically hold the camera and move it. It makes a live-action bits much more fun to watch! And your live-action bits were never boring, so this is an improvement on something that was already really good! But having an assistant over to help you make a video? In the middle of a pandarama? It is physically impossible that you could have social distanced or possibly quarantined before meeting up with each other. There is no way you guys made educated decisions to take a mitigated risk for your work. Clearly this was an incredibly dangerous move which proves that hbomb doesn't care about the safety of the people he works with. H-bomb canceled on Twitter. jokes aside you might actually want to throw a little thing in there about how you and Rachel were being safe because this seems like the kind of video people are going to misunderstand on purpose, and look for any excuse to debunk you. Though I would think that the kind of people who believe vaccines cause autism also don't take Corona virus seriously - I don't doubt that someone would try to make that claim to discredit the entire video and some less critically-minded people might believe it? Like you know how people on the right will spread a lie about some left-wing person to get them canceled by the left? They'll say that left-wing person is racist or ableist or something when there's no evidence to support that and obviously right-wing person doesn't care that they're ableist but they know the left-wing people will cancel them for it? I could see somebody doing that to this video by glossing over everything you say in regards to vaccines and autism to just accuse you of putting your colleagues life at risk. I've seen right-wing media figures make bigger leaps of logic that get taken seriously. But I also don't know s*** about human psychology. Maybe mentioning that you took safety measures will make people suspicions by calling it to their attention and you shouldn't say anything. In which case is incredibly long comment, was useless! Bye! 🙃

ArtSupportingLesbian

I love the mum cameo. Really awesome so far!

Pleaseeeeeeeeeeee make longer videos!! The longer the better! to hell with pacing, I could listen to you talk forever.

Since you're asking for feedback... In the chart at 15:30, is there a way to blur or black out the additional "MMR" text instead of whiting it out? It might invite criticism that you altered or added to the chart in some way. Then again I'm going off of 3 hours of sleep, so who knows if I'm making any sense right now.

Zandy

wait where?? I missed it

Make longer videos.

Spencer St. James

cool video so far! oh btw fun fact this study inspired further research which involved a child getting his bowels perforated in 12+ places and he almost died https://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2007/12/09/an-autistic-child-pays-the-price-of-andr (my boyfriend originally read about it in bad science by ben goldacre)

parsley

That cliffhanger, nooooooooooo

arturo182

I loved this so much, laughed out loud! It would be worth mentioning the laughably tiny sample size of just 12 cases in that study. (Also, wasn't Wakefield trying to push his own alternative vaccine, which was why he was tearing down the MMR vaccine?) Also, your mum is absolutely awesome. I remember your outtake where you showed her the trophy for reaching 100,000 subscribers on Youtube and asking if she was proud of you, and she just frowned, LOL.

Naomi Hatchman

You guys are the best.

The Worm's Hole

Despite spending many hours on this, no 😭

Kat Lo

Looks good, I liked the Mum cameo (also I have no idea about colour grading, it didn't bother me). I look forward to the part about stigma around autism, two of my close family members are on the spectrum, including my sister who loves your videos - it's like you write them to appeal to her sense of humour specifically. Weirdly, I was a baby/toddler when it first went down, and because at the time a lot of medical professionals weren't getting the booster for their kids, my parents held off on getting mine. There was general wariness around the utility of the booster (the majority of immunisation came from the first shot), it sounds like it wasn't specifically centred on autism until that study. I think part of why it took off so much, despite the science being crap, was because there was already a bit of distrust around that particular vaccine, which was briefly legitimatised by doctors not getting it for their kids. Once it was clear there was nothing wrong with the booster I did get it, and my parents later met a colleague of the guy who led the study, who talked a bit about his crap methods and how he misrepresented information with skewed statistics (I get the sense she was kind of disgusted by him). I didn't remember the sample size being only 12, that's hilarious.

ted.E

That's only in American English; in British English it's "twet" or "twoifled," although the latter is somewhat archaic

I love you too, Harry.

only a bit into this video and it's already perfect. you weren't kidding when you said this might be your best video

Boolgrim

that video came out too quickly, I don't trust it will watch it in a few years when we know more about its after-effects

Also, not sure if the word "Opinions" that you had as text on the screen was intentionally mispelt or not or I just can't read for shit. Also also, I wouldn't cut off Lindsay's "5 minutes later line". It's cut like half a second too early or so for my liking for the joke to have quite the same effect. But that's just me. Amazing video so far and really looking forward to seeing the rest of it.

I spent five minutes of this waiting for you to say 'post hoc ergo propter hoc' and then make some kind of joke about Latin. Otherwise, really enjoyed it! I'm excited for the full video. I think it's gonna be great, and I can't wait to see what the rest of your argument is and the historical documentation you've done. Addendum: I've watched your Pathologic video far too many times, and I loved the callback to it.

Finally, a video that's going to talk about the affect the anti-vax movement has had on those of us with autism. We are so often sidelined by both the medical establishment and the anti-vaxxers who I think claim to care about us? The only other piece of media with wide reach (i.e outside of a post on a blog run by an A.R.M activist) is one line in a Samantha Bee segment.

durnsidh `

As someone with Aspergers, anti-vaxxers can arse off. You're the weird ones and you should join *us*! Take the vaccine and join the spectrum! One of us. One of us. One of us.

I think it's just the gif of him breaking his wall down when showing how little Ben Shaprio knows. (https://youtu.be/RLqXkYrdmjY?t=218)

Was that Summoning Salt?!?

DIABOLIK_MODEL_WRKS

I agree with this comment. I would throw suspect at any paper that did claim to prove something. Standard language on limitations it seems like. Not sure if the whole thing needs to be removed, but perhaps hbomb can add a clarifying point about proof vs. evidence..although perhaps that discussion is embedded in later parts of the video.

For what it's worth, the smoke machine kept going off because they build up smoke over time if left on and have to vent it. You got to turn it off to fix that. Also great work! Very exited to see the next segment. Not enough people talked about the big stigma around people with autism. Glad you tackling it.

JD

I'm going to assume that hbomberguy has also watched mandalore and shammy play the mystery of of the droods

Maybe it's something you're addressing later in the video, but my experience with an antivaxxer aunt is the "just asking questions" bullshit approach, like "well, why is COVID's vaccine ready but HIV doesn't have one yet?" Or using anecdotal "evidence" to replace debunked arguments. There's this feeling of a constantly moving goal post in the discussiona which guarantees the debate never reaches a conclusion. Also, I choked on diet coke in the intro as I tried laughing and swallowing at the same time, which I should have known is not possible. And I dig that the beard is still there <3

Hi Harry, its Harry I've quite enjoyed the video! I feel like the more extended live action segments (they feel longer anyway) work very well! the way you talk seems more organised whereas previous live action segments seemed more focused on skits and leaving the facts and logic to the edited non-live action bits. Seeing your face say the words helps sell what you're saying but still works with you cutting away to show a graph or a study. I like it! its also way more seamless with the skits you've included Sorry for the long comment, but i like bringing up nitty gritties of everything i like and dislike and im going to do this for every video you post now, Enjoy! Can't wait for the full video! Also at 7:03 theres a lighting change and it caught me off guard. Im sure you know this and it'll be fixed or you don't care but i want to tell you anyway LOL (lots of love) -Harry

Harry Is Cool

Excellent so far! I admit I had never read the paper either. Do you mention later on how just at a base level a sample group of 12 is laughably inadequate and should nullify any results just on that level? I'm hoping in the later parts you get into some of how at its core it really shows the ugliness of the movement in regards to autistic people. Needless deaths aside, that is what angers me the most about this whole thing.

Great watch. I'm a doctoral candidate in the US. The Lancet vaccine paper was the first one we read in my Causal Inference class, to read as an example of what can happen when you don't give a shit about causality, and to remind us of our responsibility as scientists. I remember being so shocked at how bad that paper was (what the fuck Lancet..have a feeling that's where you are going next), and we didn't even go as deep as you did in this snippet.

How sticky was that lab coat? Especially under what I'm assuming are hot lights for filming. I'm loving Rachel getting some attention and all the callbacks, especially since this is the last video on this set too. Dan's voice overs are fantastic. Your mother is a delight! All those Axiom's End copies!

Cheyenne Valen

awesome, can't wait! one thing, though - the past tense of "tweet" is "twote", not twet 🥺 (2:03)

Katya

When you mention in the caption that Wakefield lost his license, I’d recommend switching it to loicense just cause I think that’s funny.

Lemming

I'm really glad to hear that you're gonna deal with the whole neurodivergence thing, it was my one worry about this video.

Dr. Teatime

There's always the potential problem of it winding up like "hoopy the hoop".

durnsidh `

Just out of curiosity, you sent an email awhile back about some footage you wanted to hunt down. Did you end up finding it? (Note: If it's in the first 20 minutes, I prefer to watch the whole thing at once and I apologize for being an incompetent viewer of your material.)

Uncle Jam

I’m borderline for Autism (previously Aspergers). One of the thing that strikes me about the anti-vaccine movement is that they think autism is worse than kids dying of mumps. So even if we take their bullshit arguments seriously— which we shouldn’t do!— they’d rather people die than be like me

IMO, the citing of "we did not prove..." at about 17 minutes should be removed from the video because you're presenting that line as though it's normal for a study to say that it proved something. But few, if any, studies will ever claim they proved something, no matter how strong their evidence is. They'll say that results support the hypothesis, or the results suggest a link, but they'll never outright say that the study proves something. Unless it's a mathematical paper, which has different conventions. You could make the same attack on any study of anything that is well-supported; I'm sure there are tests of the theory of relativity which say that they don't prove it. So while your contention is accurate, it's dissengenuous to present it like you do.

Chris

hell yeah. HELL YEAH. HELL YEAH HELL YEAH HELL YEAH HELL YEAH

Rat Queen

Dear Mr Bomberguy, I should very much like to submit a request for a “Dont Catch the Plague, Shithead!” Facemask, to capitalise on a meme while it’s timely. Yours in Socioeconomic Climate, Adam

Adam Fairris

I loved your mom’s cameo, the callbacks were on point, I like your bald head, I look forward to the rest of the video!

Danielle Lecky

I absolutely love the title cards, you guys nailed the look. Also love all the Axiom’s End book cameos

I love the use of the Bomberman Hero soundtrack in this

Can someone who's more extremely online than I am tell me what the HBG meme is that went around??

Marissa Collins

Question: What does carabao taste like?

JT

I did in the end! It's a huge office printer and it takes up a third of my living room but it does double-sided and colour! I'm in heaven

Hbomb

You do!

Hbomb

Do I recognize Tantacrul music backing this?

Henry R. Seymour

thank you for this gift during smoko

Hell yea

Superdark33

Harry, your face cannot be fixed. It's beautiful! Also, buy a new printer!

Hristo Kolev