I think part of the problem is that the anti-vaxxers made so many dubious and outright spurious claims that they consigned themselves to the category of 'conspiracy theory'?
There might be a grain of truth somewhere, but it's so buried under a mountain of dross to be almost inaccessible.
Had they one indisputable fact, they could have made headway, but they haven't.
In Nov 22 The Irish Light, a far right journal, ran an issue with the images of 42 deceased individuals, claiming they had all died due to being vaccinated. Upon investigation, none of the deaths were found to be due to vaccines, but rather a variety of causes such as chronic conditions, drowning, car accidents ... in one case the suicide of a young man who was opposed to vaccination.
The fact that any sensible anti-vax campaigner would stay well away from such outfits that can only undermine the argument, that they don't, speaks volumes.
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Conspiracy Theory is to today what religious superstition was in the Middle Ages – it's old wine in new skins – they both claim 'unseen powers' are pulling the strings behind world events ... it's a deep-seated impetus, an evolutionary mechanism still in place – they're a by-product.
Triggers are deep, a sense of anxiety, of disenfranchisement, a need for recognition, a need for community.
Psychological mechanisms evolve for different purposes. Conspiracy theories contain several key components – pattern recognition, agency detection, and threat management. Separately they have little effect, collectively they might cause humans to be susceptible to conspiracy theories – notable is that once one accepts one theory, the evidence suggests one accepts all, and in some cases people accept even mutually contradictory theories, because they answer a need.
There might be a grain of truth somewhere, but it's so buried under a mountain of dross to be almost inaccessible.
Had they one indisputable fact, they could have made headway, but they haven't.
In Nov 22 The Irish Light, a far right journal, ran an issue with the images of 42 deceased individuals, claiming they had all died due to being vaccinated. Upon investigation, none of the deaths were found to be due to vaccines, but rather a variety of causes such as chronic conditions, drowning, car accidents ... in one case the suicide of a young man who was opposed to vaccination.
The fact that any sensible anti-vax campaigner would stay well away from such outfits that can only undermine the argument, that they don't, speaks volumes.
+++
Conspiracy Theory is to today what religious superstition was in the Middle Ages – it's old wine in new skins – they both claim 'unseen powers' are pulling the strings behind world events ... it's a deep-seated impetus, an evolutionary mechanism still in place – they're a by-product.
Triggers are deep, a sense of anxiety, of disenfranchisement, a need for recognition, a need for community.
Psychological mechanisms evolve for different purposes. Conspiracy theories contain several key components – pattern recognition, agency detection, and threat management. Separately they have little effect, collectively they might cause humans to be susceptible to conspiracy theories – notable is that once one accepts one theory, the evidence suggests one accepts all, and in some cases people accept even mutually contradictory theories, because they answer a need.
