Vaccine Books

Deadly Choices

How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All

Paul A. Offit, M.D. - 2010/2015 PAR 614.47 OFFIT - Cedar Mill Library

Many horror stories about disease, and antivaxxer, media, and government stupidity. Baldfaced antivaxxer lies. Lots of stories about horrid diseases among the unvaccinated, and among the immunologically compromised.

That isn't enough. Telling a person they are wrong doesn't change their mind. Telling them that they have a disease doesn't cure them.

How do we change minds, and shift people towards better understandings of physical (and emotional) reality? Many knowledge heros are mentioned, but not their most effective techniques. How can we amplify the voices of those with powerful stories to tell? How do we outmessage the liars? How do we teach rational thought?

That's a different book.

As is, the only tool on offer is attrition; average intelligence increases very slightly as each fool and their children die. Wouldn't it be better to help them think rationally? That might also help them get more lucrative jobs, and spend less money on crap they don't need, peddled by the same TV shows that subvert rationality.

The last is the real problem; the purpose of television (and social media) is to make people stupid enough to buy the advertised products. With enough eyes, all the shallow are buggy.