Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Whoa...slow down on the anti-vaxxer bashing!! [View all]lumberjack_jeff
(33,224 posts)96. Vaccination as a DU topic is exclusively about dogwhistling and tribalism.
http://www.npr.org/2015/02/04/383724467/the-psychology-behind-why-some-kids-go-unvaccinated
We're on the side of the angels... and Glaxo SmithKline.
[div class="excerpt" style="background-color:#dcdcdc; padding-bottom:5px; border:1px solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom:none; border-radius:0.4615em 0.4615em 0em 0em; box-shadow:3px 3px 3px #999999;"]NPR 2/4/15[div class="excerpt" style="background-color:#f0f0f0; border:1px solid #bfbfbf; border-top:none; border-radius:0em 0em 0.4615em 0.4615em; box-shadow:3px 3px 3px #999999;"]GREENE: You know, I want to start by bringing up a story that you did on this program last year. I remember it well. You said that telling parents who are afraid of vaccinating their children about the safety of vaccines might actually go in the other direction. It might be ineffective. They might be less likely to get their kids immunized.
VEDANTAM: That's right, David. This was a study by Brendan Nyhan at Dartmouth, and he and his colleagues found that messages that tout the health benefits and the safety of vaccines are most effective when it comes to persuading people who already believe that vaccines are safe and effective. When it comes to parents who are worried about the safety of vaccines, the researchers found the messages were not only ineffective, but potentially counterproductive because worried parents became less likely to want to vaccinate their children after hearing these messages.
GREENE: Why would that be? Why would people who hear a message that vaccines are safe, you know, be even less likely to get these vaccinations?
VEDANTAM: You know, David, there is a small warehouse backed with research studies that find that our beliefs on all manner of issues are shaped by our pre-existing views. You know, that doesn't we're completely deaf to the evidence, it just means that we filter how we interpret the evidence through our pre-existing beliefs and our loyalties to various groups and tribes. And we see this in all manner of settings, not just in public health settings. The people who believe President Obama was born in Kenya, for example, were overwhelmingly likely to be people who didn't like President Barack Obama. If you looked at the recent football scandal over deflated footballs, people in New England were far more likely than people anywhere else in the country to believe that quarterback Tom Brady and coach Bill Belichick didn't know what was going on. So vaccines and the concerns about vaccines are an example of this much larger phenomenon, which is once you believe in something, it's very hard to debunk that belief. And when someone comes along and tries to debunk that belief, they get seen as being part of the conspiracy theory.
Public health is not served by politicizing it.
We're on the side of the angels... and Glaxo SmithKline.
[div class="excerpt" style="background-color:#dcdcdc; padding-bottom:5px; border:1px solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom:none; border-radius:0.4615em 0.4615em 0em 0em; box-shadow:3px 3px 3px #999999;"]NPR 2/4/15[div class="excerpt" style="background-color:#f0f0f0; border:1px solid #bfbfbf; border-top:none; border-radius:0em 0em 0.4615em 0.4615em; box-shadow:3px 3px 3px #999999;"]GREENE: You know, I want to start by bringing up a story that you did on this program last year. I remember it well. You said that telling parents who are afraid of vaccinating their children about the safety of vaccines might actually go in the other direction. It might be ineffective. They might be less likely to get their kids immunized.
VEDANTAM: That's right, David. This was a study by Brendan Nyhan at Dartmouth, and he and his colleagues found that messages that tout the health benefits and the safety of vaccines are most effective when it comes to persuading people who already believe that vaccines are safe and effective. When it comes to parents who are worried about the safety of vaccines, the researchers found the messages were not only ineffective, but potentially counterproductive because worried parents became less likely to want to vaccinate their children after hearing these messages.
GREENE: Why would that be? Why would people who hear a message that vaccines are safe, you know, be even less likely to get these vaccinations?
VEDANTAM: You know, David, there is a small warehouse backed with research studies that find that our beliefs on all manner of issues are shaped by our pre-existing views. You know, that doesn't we're completely deaf to the evidence, it just means that we filter how we interpret the evidence through our pre-existing beliefs and our loyalties to various groups and tribes. And we see this in all manner of settings, not just in public health settings. The people who believe President Obama was born in Kenya, for example, were overwhelmingly likely to be people who didn't like President Barack Obama. If you looked at the recent football scandal over deflated footballs, people in New England were far more likely than people anywhere else in the country to believe that quarterback Tom Brady and coach Bill Belichick didn't know what was going on. So vaccines and the concerns about vaccines are an example of this much larger phenomenon, which is once you believe in something, it's very hard to debunk that belief. And when someone comes along and tries to debunk that belief, they get seen as being part of the conspiracy theory.
Public health is not served by politicizing it.
Edit history
Please sign in to view edit histories.
151 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
RecommendedHighlight replies with 5 or more recommendations
Tell your dentist that you want mercury laden amalgams, because the ADA research says its OK.
Mika
Feb 2015
#40
I have the same beliefs about the idiots requiring some massive shaming. nt
Lucky Luciano
Feb 2015
#112
This reminds me of witch burning. Please don't tell me you think you are liberal minded because
rhett o rick
Feb 2015
#114
Personally, I think those here that are obsessed with locking, hiding, and banning are on the
rhett o rick
Feb 2015
#117
I feel the same way about those that support fracking and the TPP. You always have the
rhett o rick
Feb 2015
#123
I have no more love for anti-vaxxers than I do for chemtrailers, AIDS denialists, and creationists.
NuclearDem
Feb 2015
#134
I certainly understand having a passion about an issue, but to let it get into the
rhett o rick
Feb 2015
#144
While we're at it, let's ease up on Flat-Earthers and Holocaust Deniers too...
LanternWaste
Feb 2015
#141
Treating diseases would make "Big Pharma" a lot more money than vaccinations do.
Brickbat
Feb 2015
#16
And a lot of those kids and adults died from polio and if they did not they were physically disabled
jwirr
Feb 2015
#37
One uncle who died from polio and another uncle and aunt who survived polio.
we can do it
Feb 2015
#93
When my best friend was 2 y.o., her mother died of polio. Remember LIFE magazine? Photos like yours.
Hekate
Feb 2015
#149
Yup - I alert on all anti-vaxx posts. Not on this one though, because some good shamng
Lucky Luciano
Feb 2015
#113
There is a study on infant mortality rate and the number of vaccine doses compared to other countrie
jakeXT
Feb 2015
#21
Citing a study funded and conducted by anti-vaxxers will typically bring that out, yes.
NuclearDem
Feb 2015
#102
In addition, SAGE got into trouble for failing to properly peer review the articles they published.
greatlaurel
Feb 2015
#87
It also dumbfoundingly counts vaccines like MMR as three separate vaccines.
NuclearDem
Feb 2015
#100
Aha, thank you. I replied in depth to the study, should have read the rest of the thread first. Than
uppityperson
Feb 2015
#109
Correlation does not equal causation. "higher infant mortality rates" due to...what? The diseases
uppityperson
Feb 2015
#107
If you don't like it, feel free to leave and never cme back if you are anti-vaxx. nt
Lucky Luciano
Feb 2015
#115
Lucky Luciano never PM'd me. I'm advising other DUers that his/her words mean little
Trillo
Feb 2015
#140
The assertion that infant and childhood vaccines are 'heavy stimulation' is false.
Aristus
Feb 2015
#43
outbreak of measles at day care in suburban illinois - several of the babies are under 1 yrs old.
salin
Feb 2015
#47
Sorry but your take on immunology doesn't make me confident in your conclusions.
Arugula Latte
Feb 2015
#58
Hepatitis B is not running rampant because of an aggressive vaccination campaign started in 1982
hack89
Feb 2015
#76
So at average volume dose of 0.5ml less than a tablespoon total of vaccine over 18 months?
Liberal Veteran
Feb 2015
#78
Vaccination as a DU topic is exclusively about dogwhistling and tribalism.
lumberjack_jeff
Feb 2015
#96
I empathize with those wanting to wait a while. But instead of explanations of the timing, they get
Overseas
Feb 2015
#124
The facts have been explained over & over & over here, yet not one anti-vaxxer has budged...
Hekate
Feb 2015
#151