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Billy Carson, a researcher and author for 4biddenknowledge, instigated feverish controversy in the online community when he imposed upon his historical timeline the juxtaposition of the medical recognition of autism with the development and marketing of acetaminophen. Billy Carson ironically argued against the idea that the painkiller was causing an increase in autism rates, stating that doctors had been describing the condition for a long time before Tylenol became a household name. Far from a sign-off accompanied by “Timeline closed,” the post invited a torrent of differing and often acrimonious reactions from the public.
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Carson gave several dates on his timeline, arguing that acetaminophen was first synthesized in 1893 by Harmon Northrop Morse but was only brought into clinical use in the late 1940s. The brand under the label of Tylenol was introduced by McNeil Laboratories in the 1950s. In contrast to this, the term “autism” was invented in 1911 by psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler, while Leo Kanner wrote a comprehensive description of “infantile autism” in 1943. Carson’s repeating point is that autism was medically recognized before acetaminophen was ever big-time translated onto the market, certainly before it was commonly administered to pregnant women. Hence, this timeline definitely does not seem to provide the strongest case for a cause.
The comment thread soon degenerated into a swamp of various analogies and counter-arguments. One user named anthonypicone challenged the logic of the timeline by rhetorically posing, “And? Diabetes was around before donuts. Does that mean donuts can’t cause diabetes?” It was upvoted, with counter-ideas like, “It’s the rise/ triggering of something that you’re genetically predisposed to but may lay dormant.” The underlying substance of this argument implies whether Carson’s historical debate really sufficiently addresses environmental triggers accentuating genetic susceptibility.
j.marzvisuals.llc, another commentator, seemed to speculate that the original claim was misrepresented: “He said it was one of the contributors to autism he didn’t say it caused it,” implying that it was immediately about correlation and contribution as opposed to outright causation. This fineness was seconded by jennieee_t, “Its acetaminophen, Tylenol is just a brand. But also, not the sole cause. Just like with autoimmune diseases, there could be several factors/triggers.”
The discussion exploded into the factual dispute regarding the timeline as set out by Carson. Several commenters stated that acetaminophen was, in fact, awakened in 1877 and not in 1893, with chefrichman1 stating, “Simple google search and ChatGPT search shows acetaminophen was created in 1877 in Germany by a chemist named Harmon Northrop Morse.” Such a correction, if true, would set the date of its invention earlier than what was given by Carson, though if it only became commonly used in medicine late thereafter would remain another question. calmdownbro0 dropped yet another analogy critiquing Carson’s timeline: “That’s like saying cancer has been around for centuries so asbestos insulation shouldn’t be banned.”
Others pondered why people hated the topic in the first place. growawaycollective said, “I’ve confused by the hate of investigating the rise of autism and adhd…” Reactions to this comment showed a divide; one side believes that there actually is a rise in cases, and the other claims that essentially what is happening immediately is an improved diagnosis and increased awareness identifying a condition that was always present but was basically ignored in the past.
Then, some detracted, outrightly dismissing the premise. lxxusatl said derogatorily, “U got time to delete this dumbass post.” steady.progress also expressed disappointment: “Expected more from this page smh… really epstein files??? lol u sound like the sheep u like to tlk about,” commenting in regard to an offshoot comment about distraction tactics.
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Attempting to come up with a definitive historical timeline by Billy Carson has end up illuminating that in public health debates, dates alone rarely settle anything. The passionate and diametric responses from the fanbase of the author demonstrate how history and science intermingle with personal belief systems in debates attempting to identify the causes of autism. The timeline may be closed for Carson, but it is wide open for his audience, a situation that often leads to intense online discussion.
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