Sunday, February 08, 2015

I Don't Want To Say People Are Stupid...

But I was on the Book of Face and got roped into a discussion of the risks and benefits of vaccination. If you run the numbers, Junior is statistically better off getting his shots -- but hey, he's your kid. And perhaps your quarantine.

In the midst of the discussion, I made the intentionally Swiftian suggestion that you could clear up all the debate in a hurry by re-introducing smallpox. I figured there would be outraged responses to this and that I might even find myself banned for a few days.

Ha! Nothing. Nothing from either side. A smallpox epidemic could be as bad as the influenza epidemic that followed the First World War, possibly even worse -- and not a one of the debaters even blinked. That was it for my participation in the thread. There's no point in hangin' with idiots, even when most of them are nominally on your side.

13 comments:

Glenn Kelley said...

That's when you know that everyone is talking and no one is listening.

Glenn

Anonymous said...

Well I was born in '55 so I was vacinated against smallpox.

I hope that it is still effective!

Joe Allen said...

Jenny McCarthy to Jim Carrey: "Honey, did you order this blanket?"

fillyjonk said...

If you run the numbers, driving Junior to daycare is riskier than vaccinating him is.

Most people have a very poor concept of "risk." I know I'm not always the smartest about it and I'm smarter about it than many.

New Jovian Thunderbolt said...

In the two years between my birth and my little brothers was when they stopped small pox vaccination routinely, apparently. My brother cheated by being in the Navy during the War On Terrists. My immunity may have faded in the past 45 years, his is still fresh. Lucky sot!

Cincinnatus said...

Its truly astonishing sometimes how fast 'common knowledge' becomes uncommon.

Anonymous said...

". . I was on the Book of Face. . ."
There's your problem right there. In Mk. 1, Mod. 0 social media (real life), you don't have to associate with people who don't get it.
I try to avoid getting into shouting matches with with idiots, because outside observers often can't tell the difference.

Glad to see you feeling well enough to engage in anti-stupidity operations,

Ed.

P. S. Yes, I've been an idiot, but I try to learn.

Fuzzy Curmudgeon said...

I've been thinking about smallpox, myself. Just think what these people would do if it got loose. The mind boggles.

Sendarius said...

You don't have to wonder what they would do if smallpox got loose - just remember what they did with Ebola.

Go out to buy soup - check.
Mingle with the general population - check.
Violate all common sense - check.
Complain about the imposition of quarantine - check.

Wasn't it RAH (pbuh) that said, “Stupidity cannot be cured. Stupidity is the only universal capital crime; the sentence is death. There is no appeal, and execution is carried out automatically and without pity.”

I pity the innocent that the stupid will take with them on that last, dark voyage.

Roberta X said...

At least one commenter wrote in re vaccinations for childhood diseases, and I quote, "Morons! Eat a clove of garlic! Nature heals." ...At least he will never have to worry about vampires....

LCB said...

I don't think most people "get" how bad smallpox was...or polio. You'd have to be interested in that "history" subject to know about them. Oh, and not that "history" they teach in high school (and probably college)...but real history...

markm said...

I'm quite aware of how deadly smallpox was (as contagious as measles, and 5-10 times as likely to kill as the worst variety of the flu), but I'm both a history buff and old enough to remember the 1950's when it was still killing 2 million a year - not in Michigan where I lived, but travelers from the third world brought back infections often enough that vaccinating everyone was still needed.

Scott_S said...

I'm good to go - thanks to the Army.