Health and Sanity category archive
The Disinformation Superhighway 0
The Roanoke Times carries a story about how anti-vaxxers propagate propaganda manufactured out the whole cloth via the internet and “social” media.
Trying to excerpt or summarize it will not do it justice. Just follow the link.
Vaccine Nation 0
Stuart Blume offers thorough look at the concept of “herd immunity.” Methinks that it is a worthwhile read in these viral times. A nugget:
On the whole, no. In one study, for example, participants reported that their personal decisions were unaffected by whether people around them were vaccinated or not. Even among those who said they were influenced by their social network, few referred to herd immunity specifically. Some people recognized that childhood immunization had indirect benefits to the community. Nevertheless, they thought about immunizing their own children in terms of what they saw as their child’s benefit.
I must say that, when I was eagerly anticipated getting vaccinated against COVID, I was thinking primarily of my own safety and that of those around me, but I was also thinking of the society as a whole. Perhaps that’s because I’m old enough to remember pictures of little children (my age at the time) in iron lungs because of polio and how, once Dr. Salk and then Dr. Sabin perfected their vaccines, those pictures (and polio) went away.
I saw with my own eyes dramatic proof of the effectiveness of vaccines, and my mind goggles at portion of our populace which denies the evidence of things seen.
Vaccine Nation 0
At the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Kevin McDermott marvels at the stupid. A snippet:
Maskless Marauders, a Snitch in Time Kills Nine Dept. 0
The stupid. It burns.
“Social” Media Isn’t, Reprise 0
At the San Francisco Chronicle, Kevin Frazier argues forcefully that the proliferation of “smart” devices and social media is–er–not beneficial to school children. A snippet:
Students survived without a tether to their iPhone for most of human existence. Let’s get back to that era. Let’s figure out how to deal with the logistical problems we understand — like how to coordinate rides home in the absence of phones — rather than continue to test if social media is as bad as “many researchers” think it is.
Vaccine Nation 0
Anti-vax college student gets his day in court and collides with the concept of the common good.
We are a society of stupid.
Vaccine Nation 0
Natural Selection 0
Methinks Darwin was onto something.
