[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by robocop

and you don't see the hypocrisy in insulting someone for no other reason to make yourself feel better? If you want someone to see your viewpoint do you really think ridicule is an effective way of portraying a message or maybe presenting a coherent argument with objective information is best. If someone refuses to listen just leave it alone, otherwise you just end up looking like a hypocrite to everyone else who isn't quite so polarized. If your purpose isn't to help convey a coherent argument or viewpoint the only other thing I can think of is some anonymous sense of masochism and superiority.

People have presented prety cogent arguments to disprove pretty much all of the anti-vacination arguments. So yeah, once those people have been given information that comes from sources more reliable than one disproved study, and Jenny McCarthy, and they refuse to accept that they may be wrong, they move pretty quickly form "Skeptic" to "Willfully Ignorant".

Is it really any wonder people get frustrated and start making fun of people who claim to be skpetics but ignore an overwhelming body of evidence that disproves their position?

If someone refuses to be reasoned out of a position, they are not a skeptic, they are an ideologist, and thus shouldn't really be involved in debates that require scientific support.