Tuesday 25 January 2011

Morning Scepticism: Facts

On the matter of whether vaccination is a good idea, both individually and on a societal level, is a question of both science and politics. Not being trained scientists, most of us just aren't trained to properly evaluate the evidence. Yet the public controversy surrounding vaccines is one centred around facts - whether or not vaccines are harmful, and specifically in the case of autism. Because most of us aren't trained to know whether the information is good or not, it seems to be rejected on grounds of association. There are many who already seek "natural" alternatives, the distrust of the medical establishment is high. As such, the evidence is tainted by its association with Big Pharma and is rejected on those grounds.

This just mean rejecting unfavourable facts, and unfortunately no amount of data is going to change that.

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