VikingsGuy
Well-known member
I have never met a person who was an anti-vaxxer because the failed to fully understand the reverse transcriptase enzyme at the heart of RNA viruses. They are anti-vaxxers because they learned to distrust the public facing scientists and regulators who have made many mistakes (which is unavoidable, science is never 100% certain) but failed to own up to those mistakes and be held accountable for those mistakes. Where is the accountability for the questionable science that said drug addiction was caused by a refusal to provide necessary pain medications and that the solution was to flood society with painkillers and trust folks would know when/how to use them? Where is the accountability for folks that dramatically overstated the real value of paper masks and created a cultural schism over that misplace directive? Where is the accountability for the folks that said trans fats were healthier than animal fats? I could go on for pages.Fair points ..but many of the deniers are older, so their education was years ago. And in many rural areas, there is fear created by small but very vocal anti science groups that has begun to affect teachers and curriculum. They run very poorly educated people for school boards, show up in large numbers to intimidate. I do think it's better in suburban/urban areas but good teachers, board members, and administrators are getting out of the field in rural areas.
We don't need to educate people about STEM, we need to have those entrusted with our STEM systems to be clear, apolitical, humble, and accountable.