It’s probably no surprise that Donald Trump’s ability to recognize smart, subtle satire is not in top form. But we’re still laughing at him for retweeting this (frankly hilarious) graphic illustrating the flimsy anecdotal evidence for “wind turbine syndrome.”
The graphic, made by Ketan Joshi — bigger version here — collects 216 symptoms that have been attributed to wind turbine syndrome. They range from “vibrating lips” to stroke, and from “delayed metamorphosis” in crabs to “wall-staring” at dogs (who, god knows, NEVER stare blankly into space without the malign influence of wind turbines). None of it is made up, per se — people have in fact blamed all these symptoms on WTS — but the sheer volume makes it clear that the claims are overblown. At least, clear to anyone with a modicum of critical thinking ability, a category that does not include Donald Trump.
Whether he’s functionally illiterate, lousy at Twitter, or so blinded by his rage at wind turbines that it doesn’t occur to him that they might not actually cause social problems in peacocks — or, you know, all three — the fact is that Trump uncritically tweeted a graphic whose entire purpose is to demonstrate how uncritically people accept BS anecdata. In short: LOL @ you.
