4 ms·

It's a self-correcting problem. Those who don't vaccinate will eventually dwindle in numbers and their offspring won't reach reproductive maturity.

mynameishere 17y ago
Which is to say, those who don't get the vaccine will die in proportion to their natural weakness to a particular disease. The survivors will have the strongest resistance out of the entire population.
anigbrowl 17y ago
I wish. Aside from the ethical problem that adults are compromising the survivability of their children, who are not in a position to make the decision for themselves, this view depends on the idea that illogical thinking and paranoia are heritable traits. To be sure, growing up in an ignorant family may well offset the benefits of education, but many otherwise intelligent people can fall into error. Consider deniers of evolution or moon landings, who often know enough science to put up superficially persuasive arguments for their conspiracy theories (a favorite being 'van Allen belt radiation would have killed the astronauts') but seem unable to deal with questions of probability. These beliefs are more common in the US than in Europe; I wonder if this is due to some basic weakness in the design of US school curriculum. Maybe if basic programming were included as part of the math curriculum people would b better equipped to deal with these issues.
- dschobel 17y ago
  Precisely. This is an education issue which we should try to address, not just say "well, they'll all be dead soon enough anyway"
dschobel 17y ago
That's a rather severe position when you consider that the children are the ones who will pay the price for the parent's ignorance. I don't think most people would be comfortable with letting the children of ignorant or misinformed parents simply perish though.

4 ms·

It's a self-correcting problem. Those who don't vaccinate will eventually dwindle in numbers and their offspring won't reach reproductive maturity.

by pcestrada 17y ago

mynameishere 17y ago
Which is to say, those who don't get the vaccine will die in proportion to their natural weakness to a particular disease. The survivors will have the strongest resistance out of the entire population.
anigbrowl 17y ago
I wish. Aside from the ethical problem that adults are compromising the survivability of their children, who are not in a position to make the decision for themselves, this view depends on the idea that illogical thinking and paranoia are heritable traits. To be sure, growing up in an ignorant family may well offset the benefits of education, but many otherwise intelligent people can fall into error. Consider deniers of evolution or moon landings, who often know enough science to put up superficially persuasive arguments for their conspiracy theories (a favorite being 'van Allen belt radiation would have killed the astronauts') but seem unable to deal with questions of probability. These beliefs are more common in the US than in Europe; I wonder if this is due to some basic weakness in the design of US school curriculum. Maybe if basic programming were included as part of the math curriculum people would b better equipped to deal with these issues.
- dschobel 17y ago
  Precisely. This is an education issue which we should try to address, not just say "well, they'll all be dead soon enough anyway"
dschobel 17y ago
That's a rather severe position when you consider that the children are the ones who will pay the price for the parent's ignorance. I don't think most people would be comfortable with letting the children of ignorant or misinformed parents simply perish though.