And so do you.

Yesterday I got my 1,567th "they say" challenge to the influenza vaccine. I did not handle it well and had to apologize to my students for ranting at them. My students were not the perpetrators--they were simply trying to find ways of countering their irrational beliefs. Unfortunately this is more difficult than it sounds.

I am saddened and frustrated by the increasing scientific illiteracy of our people, which seems almost willful. It has already had serious consequences--antibiotic resistance, climate change, irrational use of drugs--and will have many more.

The vaccine issue is one of the most tragic. People are literally dying unnecessarily because irresponsible idiots are spreading lies about them, and about other biological issues. This is the same group that influenced the former president of South Africa to deny the causative role of HIV in AIDS, directly leading to the death of hundreds of thousands. I believe the people in this gang should be charged with crimes against humanity--murder included.

As Michael Shermer (of Skeptic magazine and the recent book, The Believing Brain) has concluded, people believe weird and unscientific things because they WANT to, and are singularly resistant to facts. Like liars anywhere whose lies harm people, they should be held accountable.

In the meantime, we all need to do what we can to promote scientific literacy, preferably without ranting.  :-)