Description

Hank Greene hilariously discusses the ‘debate’ around vaccines.  Anti-vaxxers, and their claim that vaccines cause autism, have become popular and the science behind vaccinations is all the more important to understand.  He starts off describing the autism spectrum disorder and its recent rise.  He then focuses on the root of the anti-science problem, one we all share: cognitive biases and human psychology.  Specifically, he discusses the omission bias, perception of future regret, naturalness bias, confirmation bias, risk perception, and negativity bias.

Discussion Questions

• List and discuss the various biases mentioned.
• If anti-vaxxers reject vaccinations because of the biases we all share, are they ‘responsible’ for the harm they then cause?
• How might we use this knowledge of our biases to fix the situation?
• How can we protect ourselves to make sure we don’t fall into these biases?

Keywords: psychology, logical fallacy, biase, vaccines, anti-vax, conspiracy theory, anti-science, autism, skepticism