pro vax=spawn of satan??

Seems like this post would have best been put in the vaccine/conspiracy theorist thread.

Sorry-that thread is so big. Y'all can delete if you want.

I know this has been beat to death, but in the last 2 days, I have gotten into some very heated discussions about the flu vax. I had no idea that people were that intense about their hatred of it!!! I respect other's choice and opinions but dang they beat up on me. I "sold out" (to who, I don't know-"The Man" I guess) I am a low life, have to be a Trump supporter (what that has to do with it, not sure).

They certainly aren't worried about preservatives, etc in their "dilautin" when they want it.

Why are so many people convinced of these conspiracy theories? Is it just ignorance?

Doctors and scientists have a long history of coming up with the wrong "facts". There are also plenty of unethical practices littered throughout history. I trust that medical professionals offer the best "guess" when it comes to medical care, but I'm 100% sure that people will look back from the future and be horrified at at least some of it.

It's much more fun and satisfying to believe everything around you is part of a vast nefarious conspiracy and that it's your job to rise up against the evil facts-peddlers. Making decisions based on reliable, proven data isn't sexy.

Sorry-that thread is so big.

Well golly, this was discussed in that "big" thread ad nauseam. I see people are still adding to it, so if you'd like to get in on the action I'm sure you can get some responses there. I did participate in that thread and for my part experienced enough gnashing of teeth from all sides of 'vaccines and conspiracy theory' to last me a long while. I like Sour Lemon's comment. Medicine is an inexact science and yes, someday we will look back on 2017 and wonder at some of the stuff we did... in the good name of science...and were so sure of. In internet age, normal folks question all kinds of things. Maybe all this access to instant information (whether good or bad) is changing the way our brains process. Maybe what used to be deviant thinking (conspiracy theory) is now simply becoming normal. Regardless, as a HCP, I don't think it helps to negatively label folks (ie, conspiracy theorists). Some people who question vaccines are just folks who need a bit more hand holding. They really aren't unhinged. But if you're really interested that other thread will have plenty to entertain all of your questions and more, including sourced definitions of 'conspiracy theorist'.

I do think we're closer to medicine being a science now than we were in some of the time we look back on. We look back on times of blood letting and exorcersims. A lot of those practices weren't scientifically based at all. Now we have the scientific method. We look back at more recent times, like how Thalidomide ever got approved for use in pregnancy. Now we have improved on the practices we use when forming clinical trials and the protections human subjects have. I'm not saying it's perfect. I am saying we're on a positive trajectory and I suspect we'll have far fewer "why did we ever think that" moments moving forward.

My unfortunate answer narrows down to "Because Dr. Google said so!".