Vaccines And The Great Denial Argumentative Analysis

People continue to believe that vaccination cause autism because of the way our mind is set up. Our mind is set up to come with solution to a new problem based on the past information related to the current problem or based on previous experience, sometimes this can be good, however it can lead us to ignore the other side of the coin, and make conclusion based on little or no information, and refuse to change our beliefs after find out more information. We don’t want to admit that we are wrong. We look for evidences to support our own false beliefs instead of changing our beliefs.

Michael Spector is a professor of pediatrics at the Harvard school of public health. In the article Vaccines and the Great Denial; the author provides many evidence

These mental models can help us solve problems or cause problems. Monica Prasad on the article There Must Be a Reason’: Osama, Saddam, and inferred Justification. The Prasad presents evidence that Saddam Hussein wasn’t responsible for the September 11,2001 terrorist attack but some people believed that he was responsible even when the evidence show that there wasn’t “link” between the terrorist act and Saddam. Prasad states that “We argue that the primary causal agent for misperception is not the presence or absence of correct information but a respondent’s willingness to believe particular kinds of information” (1). We believe certain kind of information without truly have all the facts or all the information necessary to reach a conclusion. Some people reach their conclusion based on motivated reasoning. Even with all the “correct information” present they manage to come up with reasons and arguments that support their beliefs. Sometimes they use strategies to defend their point of

People who argue that vaccines cause autism and there isn’t a risk to not vaccinate their children ignores the fact that many diseases are prevented by the vaccines. According to Spector vaccines helps save lives in the United States; “seventeen thousand people would have been left retarded and five thousand would have died” (14). These numbers shows clearly that the vaccines helps humans and it control and get rid of most diseases, and the vaccines are worth the risks. Even if these numbers were presented to the people who believes that vaccines cause autism they would still find justification to deny