in Victorian times the author wanted to warn people about the arsenic in wallpaper and its dangers, so he published a book of wallpaper samples with arsenic that then itself poisoned and killed people who handled the book

[–] underline960@sh.itjust.works 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

"Hey, grenades are dangerous."

Hands you a grenade with the pin pulled.

(At the funeral.) "Told you."

[–] dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 4 days ago

ha, the logic is a bit wacky, but I can also see how maybe publishing a book like that might cause a moral panic that could result in regulatory action (and to be fair that's how the FDA was created, after Upton Sinclair's The Jungle resulted in a moral panic)