Removed from scientific context, vaccinating your kid sounds crazy. Let’s stick a needle in their arm and put disease and chemicals into their body. To prevent an illness nobody you know has ever gotten. And on top of your kid crying, and your own lack of experience with the disease, you have neighbors whispering in your ear (or posting loudly on social media) how dangerous vaccines are.
Instead of putting it to a popular vote, though, or listening to the loudest voices on your Facebook feed, you listen to your child’s pediatrician (I hope) and bodies of experts like the AMA and CDC, who unanimously cite overwhelming evidence in favor of vaccinations.
For every decision, there are gut feelings and personal opinions about the issue, and then there are the scientific arguments – what does the evidence say? Most often, these come from experts in the field, who have devoted years to mastering the topic.
Would #a2council vaccinate?
The greatest conflicts in Ann Arbor politics are often driven by clashes between gut feelings (either voiced by citizens or held by CMs) and expert opinions.
Continue reading Expertise vs. Emotion at Ann Arbor City Council