Quote:
Originally Posted by rubecube
I'm starting to think that an introductory class on critical thinking and logical fallacies should be mandatory for obtaining a high school diploma.
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I'm not even sure if that would work. We (quite rightly) teach people to question authority, so I can easily imagine the weak-minded idiots who make up the anti-vaccination movement (similar to other lunatics like 9/11 truthers or what have you) will just dismiss the peer-reviewed evidence of medical scientists as part of an elaborate conspiracy perpetrated by Big Pharma and the Medical-Industrial Complex.
Anti-vaxxers are one of many unfortunate results of the growing trend of
anti-intellectualism in Western society. It used to be that most people would defer to the superior knowledge and wisdom of trained and experienced experts in a given field. If this was still the case, everyone would recognize that medical scientists, doctors, and immunologists are trusted authority figures on the topic of vaccination and would vaccinate their children accordingly. Because of anti-intellectualism, however, too many people now give equal weight to the uneducated opinions of quacks and Hollywood stars.