The Idiot Ranting Thread

[BlackDragonSlayer]

Not trying to argue I think you just don't understand what I said xD and yeah I guess it wouldn't always happen.  But it does and it IS instinctive in most animals (not sure if insects :/)

I'm not denying that it's instinctive, but rather, that in many cases (especially those from my personal experience), it's not instinct that causes the effect to occur, but rather, what you know (or what you don't know). Many people have convinced themselves that it's the food itself that's unsafe, rather than the fact that the fact that they ate way too much of it and/or were already sick in the first place. In cases like that, as I mentioned, it's not always a matter of instinct (or else you don't know how many people would refuse to eat common, everyday foods, like meat, bread, fruit, etc.), but rather, the knowledge the person has, or the actions the person takes (or else it would apply to everybody/nearly everybody).

Not to mention that your responses to my points make no sense at all (the first and finals ones especially). It seems like, in your responses, you're acknowledging what I said, and yet denying that what I said is true (if that makes any sense).

[FierceDeity]

That's exactly what my friend thinks. She has a friend whose mom apparently got a terrible disease from getting a flu shot -.-

I feel as if that's comparable to not eating something anymore just because you had it before you threw up (incidentally, a similar thing happened with me and jello, but that was because of its texture rather than the fact that I had actually eaten it- I barely got it in my mouth).

Yeah, not nearly enough people realize that correlation does not imply causation (i.e. two things happening together doesn't imply that one is the result of another). And so people say "Oh, all of these people who have autism got these shots when they were young! It must be because of the shots!" and similarly stupid things. Human beings like to have something to blame when things go wrong, and so in cases where scientific knowledge provides no definite answer (or, what's worse, when there actually is one, but they've received false information that misleads them from this answer), people decide to entirely forego that scientific knowledge and blame whatever they think was associated.

Or worse, infecting others later. If you don't want to get vaccinated for yourself, whatever that's your choice, but if you get an illness and it's contagious then you're affecting others with your dumb decision.

Yeah, if it was just their own health that they were putting at risk, I wouldn't really care. But there are people who are immunocompromised who actually have a reason not to get vaccinated, because their immune systems can't even risk taking in a weakened form of a virus, and anybody who chooses not to get vaccinated is putting these people at risk. Not to mention, these people also choose not to vaccinate their children, and children have actually died as a result of this.

It's actually pretty funny to me that parents have avoided vaccinations for their children on the grounds that they might cause autism (even though they've been proven not to) when the meningitis shot, one of the most widespread vaccinations, prevents a disease that is about infinitely more likely to cause mental issues than any shot ever will be. I mean, the whole autism scare was mostly with the MMR vaccine, but it's still funny that people reject a scientific advancement that prevents far worse consequences from occurring than those that will ever arise as a result of it.

However:
"1: You could have eaten the food many times before and not gotten sick, yet some people still have that reaction."  Yes.  It's instinctive. 
"2: Many people, on the other hand, don't have that reaction at all (as I said, the only food I've had it with is jello, but because it has a weird texture, and I never really liked it before anyways), or else I wouldn't eat Chicken Noddle Soup, Chinese food, or Rice Krispies. Or bacon and eggs."  Everyone I know has this reaction, my brother hates potatoes because he threw up for example.  I can't think of others off the top of my head but yeah.  I guess it wouldn't happen all the time, and maybe it can be learned over.  But it is a defensive mechanism to keep you from eating bad food.

"I think, for humans, it's mainly resulting from ignorance, or false information that they've "learned" (as with vaccines), because if you know that the food isn't what caused you to be sick (as I said earlier, many people associate the last food they ate with what caused them to be sick, especially in cases of food poisoning, although then, it's arguably justified), you likely won't have any problem with it."   true, but I was talking about the specific instance where she thought the shot made her sick.  You can't convince them otherwise.

Not trying to argue I think you just don't understand what I said xD and yeah I guess it wouldn't always happen.  But it does and it IS instinctive in most animals (not sure if insects :/)

There are a lot more factors in the human psyche than just "instinct", especially considering the fact that instinct is nothing more than a neurological pattern that frequently develops in a species/multiple species regardless of environmental factors. The fact is, we have enough conscious control over our thoughts and behavior (and enough environmental influence) that her thinking that the shot caused her to be sick is much more than instinct. Not to mention, unless the symptoms started occurring directly after getting the shot, there are so many other things that happened, things ingested, etc. that could have been associated with the illness, that the association could have only been a result of conscious thought. Many people, too, have the ability to rationally analyze whether the food that they ate actually made them sick or not. Instinct is not the end-all, be-all of psychology.

[Ruto]

Anecdotes don't compare to actual scientific data. I blame the misinformed masses and people who try to suggest fake remedies that do the misinforming to sell their own products. I also remember some famous celebrity on Oprah saying that vaccines were responsible for her kid's autism...I think she was just stupid or didn't believe that her genes and age had something to do with it because she and her husband were both rich and famous celebrities.

Also, I got food poisoning from blueberry muffins, several restaurants/takeout food and sticky rice on multiple occasions. I've gotten back to eating everything but blueberry muffins.

[Ruto]

Also I found this:



I also can't stand it when the anti-vaccine people are telling me to educate myself or calling people things like sheep. It seems to be a thing these days to deny evidence, because if someone agrees with you, you're 100% right on the issue.

[mikey]

Wait the people who are AGAINST vaccines call you sheep?  Hypocritical much or just me?

[The Deku Trombonist]

I got the measles vaccine as a child and still wound up getting measles anyway 

[FierceDeity]

Anecdotes don't compare to actual scientific data.

thankyou

I also remember some famous celebrity on Oprah saying that vaccines were responsible for her kid's autism...I think she was just stupid or didn't believe that her genes and age had something to do with it because she and her husband were both rich and famous celebrities.

Probably Jenny McCarthy, i.e. "the embodiment of why we shouldn't listen to celebrities for medical advice".

I also can't stand it when the anti-vaccine people are telling me to educate myself or calling people things like sheep. It seems to be a thing these days to deny evidence, because if someone agrees with you, you're 100% right on the issue.

I am so opposed to the idea of calling people sheep. If it is possible to mislead people in such a manner that they wholeheartedly defend something based on completely inaccurate "facts", then it is ridiculously arrogant to assume that only the people who disagree with you are susceptible to this. If people live in a constant state of paranoia that "the other side is trying to convince me with falsified information", it turns what should be completely objective issues, such as vaccination, into subjective ones.

[Clanker37]

Wait the people who are AGAINST vaccines call you sheep?  Hypocritical much or just me?

Sheep have a tendency to go with the crowd. Given the fact that so many people seem to be against vaccines because of petty 'fears' or because 'Jenny McCarthy told me not to!' against all actual evidence available I must conclude that it's people who don't get vaccinated are the sheepy ones. My Mother and sister both suffer from sever needle fears. They sometimes faint while waiting or as they are getting a needle. But if it necessary for them to get a needle, for whatever reason, they don't run away or manipulate it so they don't have to have it. They go in and they take like a woman.

This is what really frustrates me about anti-science people. They completely ignore the evidence and go with their gut feeling. Well, you know what? If it actually worked it'd be called science, not pseudo-science.

Enjoy your genital warts.

[SlowPokemon]

If you're that person who, when the teacher is lecturing about a certain principle, needs to point out how you or someone you know is an exception to said principle, I probably hate you.

[FierceDeity]

I'm ashamed to say, I was...back in elementary/middle school, at least XD I just remember one day when they were doing some drug education thing, they were talking about advertising, and a younger, even more belligerent me was like "I'M NOT INFLUENCED BY ADVERTISEMENTS BECAUSE I'M SPECIAL" (or something to that effect). And then, as for political bias, at some point during middle school I started watching the daily show/colbert report and took their viewpoints as fact, becoming the epitome of "politically charged pre-teen with knowledge of only one side of any issue". It wasn't until my 8th grade social science teacher explained to us how complicated bias can be that I started attempting to self-analyze (and probably succeeded very little at this until years later, if even then). Sure, I'm still biased; even once you realize that fact, it's impossible to eliminate it entirely; but I do make a conscious effort to analyze why it is that I think a certain way.

Yet, even that mindset came from the influence of a teacher. Bias is a tricky thing, isn't it?

[SlowPokemon]

I mean more like the teacher saying "this doesn't happen" and some girl raises her hand and says "well it happened to my cousin out of state one time." Or a teacher saying "this is how it works" and some random person "it's not like that for me."

[FierceDeity]

Oh, no yeah, I totally know what you mean. Like, one time when my music theory teacher was explaining what perfect/absolute pitch is, and how it can't be learned/taught, and some guy raises his hand and claims that he's successfully teaching it to himself. Just...just, no.

Luckily, there aren't TOO many subjects where that can happen, haha. Mostly psychology.
I'd like to see it happen in physics, though XD

[Yugi]

If you're that person who, when the teacher is lecturing about a certain principle, needs to point out how you or someone you know is an exception to said principle, I probably hate you.

I'm the exception


PARADOX!!!!!!!

[Ruto]

I got the measles vaccine as a child and still wound up getting measles anyway 

Lol either the vaccine was a dud or worked by making the symptoms less severe...

Sheep have a tendency to go with the crowd. Given the fact that so many people seem to be against vaccines because of petty 'fears' or because 'Jenny McCarthy told me not to!' against all actual evidence available I must conclude that it's people who don't get vaccinated are the sheepy ones. My Mother and sister both suffer from sever needle fears. They sometimes faint while waiting or as they are getting a needle. But if it necessary for them to get a needle, for whatever reason, they don't run away or manipulate it so they don't have to have it. They go in and they take like a woman.

This is what really frustrates me about anti-science people. They completely ignore the evidence and go with their gut feeling. Well, you know what? If it actually worked it'd be called science, not pseudo-science.

Enjoy your genital warts.

More like, enjoy celibacy if you don't want it xD

Calling someone a sheep means more like just listening or obeying mindlessly (just based on context, I didn't bother looking it up). I think those that use the word should really pay attention to what they're doing themselves. Someone who disagrees with the general consensus isn't automatically right when they come up with a few discredited sources to back themselves up. I could prove anything I wanted if I cherry picked my info and sources! Don't get me started on the gut feeling thing. If someone trusts it that much, they would believe anyone that goes with their gut feeling to notice what the claims were from or based on.

@FD's other post and Slowball

The other problem is that people think "it's never going to happen to me." I think we've all done it at some point xD Finding themselves or something else to be an exception to the norms, that is.

I don't like needles either since I have really, really small veins and really, really skinny arms and it takes about 20 minutes to an hour for even a pinprick to stop bleeding (cuts close up really fast, just not punctures...), but I've stayed up to do with most vaccines ._. Just not the HPV one (yet), the needle was huge and my fatter sisters all complained about how much it hurt xD I'm kind of debating whether or not I should still take it because I'm near the end of the recommended age and I'm not...active xDDDD wahhh...

[Yugi]

LAVA'S INSTANT DEATH??