
Dear parents, you are being lied to  - hansy
http://violentmetaphors.com/2014/03/25/parents-you-are-being-lied-to/#comments
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tzs
For those who prefer links that start at the beginning of the article, instead
of the beginning of the comments:

[http://violentmetaphors.com/2014/03/25/parents-you-are-
being...](http://violentmetaphors.com/2014/03/25/parents-you-are-being-lied-
to/)

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FD3SA
This is a very small symptom of a much more dire malady: scientific illiteracy
at all levels of society.

The scope of science covers all existence, and yet, it has increasingly been
confined to academia and research. The applications of scientific discoveries
are nowhere to be seen in politics, economics, or law.

Starting in WWI, and ending with the Cold War, was the era of institutional
science. During these times, scientists were respected and their input
considered at every level of government. Yet, once the Cold War ended, it was
back to business as usual. Science funding was cut, and scientists were exiled
back to the lab, and replaced with financiers.

The MMR/autism zealots are a small blip in a much larger, metastasizing
sickness in western society. Scientists, who are experts in the empirical
rationalism which made the west what is today, are now marginalized and
discredited as advisors to the public.

You reap what you sow. As NIH and NSF funding is cut, and STEM grads fight for
dwindling employment opportunities, cases like this will become more and more
common.

A society without science at its foundation is doomed to struggle in the dark
forever. Tragically, it appears even those gifted with the flame of
elucidation neglect it, allowing it to dwindle to embers, putting them back
into the very darkness from whence they came.

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lkrubner
This is good. I am puzzled why the anti-vaxxers still exist at all? The
original paper linking autism to vaccines was withdrawn, the researcher
admitted to fraud, and he was punished by the courts. How can a movement
survive when the guy who started it has been so completely discredited? And
yet, instead of dying, the movement has grown and new arguments have been
invented about why various diseases can be safely ignored.

I this this is well said:

\----------------------

In light of recent outbreaks of measles and other vaccine preventable
illnesses, and the refusal of anti-vaccination advocates to acknowledge the
problem, I thought it was past time for this post.

They say that measles isn’t a deadly disease. But it is.

They say that chickenpox isn’t that big of a deal. But it can be.

They say that the flu isn’t dangerous. But it is.

They say that whooping cough isn’t so bad for kids to get. But it is.

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JohnTHaller
Don't forget Rubella, part of the MMR vaccine that the anti-vaxxers rail
against. Fun fact: Rubella in a pregnant woman increases the risk of autism in
the child. So, anti-vaxxers are actually working towards an increase in
autism.

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natch
The people who believe the anti-vaccine stuff don't read. They especially
don't read things this long. It would be great to see a video covering these
points. Yes, there is a video covering one of the points, and that's a great
start.

~~~
JasonFruit
Sadly, that's not really true. I know some highly literate, otherwise
intelligent people, who can make their way through a work as dense as R. J.
Rushdoony's (lucid but misguided) _Institutes of Biblical Law_ , but who still
believe that vaccines are a corporate and governmental plot. I think there is
a flaw in some human brains that allows healthy skepticism to become overgrown
into reflexive disbelief of all commonly-accepted fact. I've argued, cajoled,
ridiculed, and persuaded them, but they absolutely cannot be moved. It really
breaks my heart.

~~~
natch
Of course there are exceptions. Yes it's sad to see intelligent people wasting
their brains on nonsense.

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martingordon
The Onion has a similar take: [http://www.theonion.com/articles/the-pros-and-
cons-of-vaccin...](http://www.theonion.com/articles/the-pros-and-cons-of-
vaccinating-children,35731/)

