To be fair that means the education system has failed you in that regard. That probably contributes to the anti vax cult, they’re simply not taught why vaccines are important and what they help prevent.
That’s exactly the problem. Vaccines have worked so well that people have forgotten the horrors of the diseases they prevent.
I read an article a while back about a mother who’s little girl caught whooping cough. She hadn’t vaccinated her, but said that watching her daughter struggling to breathe was the worst thing she’d experienced and wished she had listened and given her the vaccine.
People realize very quickly why vaccines are important, but it’s usually by experiencing it firsthand, and unfortunately it’s too late by then.
That isn’t why antivaxxers exist. Antivaxxers exist because they believe the vaccines themselves are poisonous or harmful as a core belief. Whether they believe the diseases are severe or even exist is moot because that’s not what they have a problem with.
Many antivaxxers’ children do get severe disease and they do not change their stance because they genuinely believe the vaccines themselves are so harmful.
It’s not that life is so good they are afraid, (doesn’t even make sense) but rather life is so bad and such a distrust in our medical system that they feel like they can’t risk what they see as a bad product. To address that, we’d have to increase education and increase medical access at minimum.
Misunderstanding these people may make the problem simpler and may make you feel good about yourself, but it doesn’t do much to address their actual beliefs.
I’m 54 and had no idea what measles was until lately. See, we didn’t have that shit when I was growing up, never even heard of someone catching it.
That’s how dumb American’s have become. We’ve regressed to pre germ theory.
To be fair that means the education system has failed you in that regard. That probably contributes to the anti vax cult, they’re simply not taught why vaccines are important and what they help prevent.
Free quality education for all is a foundation for a functioning democracy. It’s also nice when your fellow man, your neighbor, is not a dumbass.
That’s exactly the problem. Vaccines have worked so well that people have forgotten the horrors of the diseases they prevent.
I read an article a while back about a mother who’s little girl caught whooping cough. She hadn’t vaccinated her, but said that watching her daughter struggling to breathe was the worst thing she’d experienced and wished she had listened and given her the vaccine.
People realize very quickly why vaccines are important, but it’s usually by experiencing it firsthand, and unfortunately it’s too late by then.
The IT paradox :
You are right that vaccines worked so well because mostly everyone had them, and mostly everyone has to take them for them to work.
Village idiots got a support system and crossed the threshold where the herd immunity has diminished enough for outbreaks in communities.
That isn’t why antivaxxers exist. Antivaxxers exist because they believe the vaccines themselves are poisonous or harmful as a core belief. Whether they believe the diseases are severe or even exist is moot because that’s not what they have a problem with.
Many antivaxxers’ children do get severe disease and they do not change their stance because they genuinely believe the vaccines themselves are so harmful.
It’s not that life is so good they are afraid, (doesn’t even make sense) but rather life is so bad and such a distrust in our medical system that they feel like they can’t risk what they see as a bad product. To address that, we’d have to increase education and increase medical access at minimum.
Misunderstanding these people may make the problem simpler and may make you feel good about yourself, but it doesn’t do much to address their actual beliefs.