John Adams On The Stubborn Centrality Of Facts... And The Advisabiity Of Vaccination

Why Obama has to be careful when talking about vaccines

Chris Christie and Rand Paul made some dubious remarks about vaccines on Monday, but President Obama's sincere and well-informed discussion of the issue before the Super Bowl on Sunday might do more to discourage parents from vaccinating their children, argues David A. Graham in The Atlantic:

Trying to bust the myths about vaccines causing autism or other cures can actually backfire. ... And trying to convince people out of their beliefs can actually encourage them to hold those views more staunchly, since they flow out of identity with a community rather than facts. That means Obama's unequivocal statements Sunday might backfire, encouraging the anti-vaccine movement and more deeply entrenching beliefs.

How members of the public react when someone tries to persuade them that they're wrong creates a dilemma for public health experts and elected officials. It's an especially tricky one for Obama, whose speeches on all kinds of issues seem to worsen partisan divisions. If people start to think of vaccinating your kids as something Democrats do, then conservatives who oppose vaccination might become even harder to persuade. Their position on vaccinations would become part of their political identity. Indeed, while those refusing to vaccinate have historically included both Democrats and Republicans, worrisome new data from the Pew Research Center shows that a gap has appeared between the parties.

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