[quote=CA renter]
If you had talked to these two families, you would probably have a totally different opinion about these “idiots.”[/quote]
I wouldn’t. Children with regressive autism sometimes regress rapidly at about the same age that MMR vaccines are given. So there will be many instances where the regression occurs immediately after the vaccine is given. That doesn’t mean the vaccine caused it. Many people in their 80’s have had strokes immediately after drinking a glass of water or watching tv. That doesn’t mean the water or the tv caused it. Ordinary people being 100% convinced of anything because of an anecdote won’t change my mind, especially if large studies have been done contradicting whatever they’re convinced about.
[quote=CA renter]
Remember that those who are ahead of science tend to be ridiculed by the current scientific establishment. It doesn’t help anyone’s cause to call those who have a different opinion “idiots” or “conspiracy theorists.” Anecdote almost always precedes science. Those “idiots” just might be right.[/quote]
This is a case commonly made for following non-science. What’s never mentioned (I think it’s scientific illiteracy rather than intentional misdirection) is that for every quack who’s ridiculed by the current scientific establishment and turns out to be right, there are hundreds or thousands who are wrong. For every anecdote that turns out precede science, there are a thousand or a million that don’t.
Science won’t always be right. Almost always, but not always. But when it’s wrong, it’s not afraid to admit it. If it’s afraid to admit it, it’s not science. When new evidence comes out, science deals with it unemotionally and updates the science on the matter. Science is always looking for the truth. The real truth. How many endeavors can you say that about? If you start letting mommy and daddy convince you, clearly there’s emotion in the way of figuring out what really happened. And your odds of being right plummet dramatically.
