For the odd times you may be listening to devious anti-vaccine pundits, here is a tool to evaluate exactly how and where they intentionally hoodwink a public that is sadly lacking in critical thinking skills. It is not hard to get to a “Gotcha!” when these forked-tongue con artists craftily weave their web of lies. It is actually fun and may help you enlighten a friend or family member who is about to make a harmful decision. Fallacies are basic errors in reasoning that make an argument unsound. Below are eight common ones, with more at the Sources link below.
CONFIRMATION
BIAS
This bias closes its eyes and blocks its
ears and does not want to hear anything from the opposing point of view, only
information supporting their opinion.
Example: Web sites and social media accounts that
advocate the deception that vaccines are harmful never grapple with the
overwhelming evidence that undermine their views.
Reality check: The literally crushing data
of vaccine safety and efficacy speaks for itself. Anti-Vaccine con artists prey
on people’s fears and make good money selling sham products.
AD
HOMINEM ATTACK
Ad hominem attacks criticize the messenger
in the absence of counter-arguments related to the facts being discussed.
Example:
When vaccines are suggested to be unsafe because of a conspiracy between
government officials and pharmaceutical companies, this is an example of an ad
hominem attack because it does not address vaccine safety but rather groups
that state vaccines are safe.
Reality check: Vaccine safety is not established by who says vaccines are safe,
but rather the result of thousands of studies and years of experience.
CIRCULAR
REASONING
Circular arguments use the preliminary
assumption as the basis for arriving at the same conclusion.
Example:
When someone says MMR vaccine causes autism and their child got autism because
he got the MMR vaccine, this is an example of a circular argument.
Reality check: Multiple well-controlled studies on several continents involving
hundreds of thousands of children have not identified a link between the
development of autism and receipt of the MMR vaccine. Likewise, the notion that
a child is harmed by receiving too many vaccines has also been studied and is
not supported by the findings.
SLIPPERY
SLOPE
A slippery slope fallacy argues against a
fact or situation by suggesting unlikely, extreme outcomes.
Example:
When someone suggests that a vaccine mandate will lead to a state takeover of
parental rights, this is an example of a slippery slope fallacy.
Reality check: Vaccine mandates are not an attempt by the government to control
parental decision-making but rather to keep communities safe by ensuring that
more people are vaccinated. Mandates increase immunization rates and ensure a
vaccine supply for those who couldn’t otherwise afford vaccinations.
HASTY
GENERALIZATION
Hasty generalizations involve jumping to
conclusions without reviewing all available evidence.
Example:
When someone uses anecdotes of a small group of individuals as evidence for a
link between vaccines and autism, this is an example of a hasty generalization.
Reality check: It is reasonable to observe a group of individuals who got
vaccinated and were subsequently diagnosed with autism and hypothesize that a
causal relationship could exist. However, it is not enough to stop with the
observation. To know if there is a causal relationship, controlled studies need
to compare people who did and did not get vaccinated to see if those who got
vaccinated were more likely to be diagnosed with autism. The good news is this
has been done — repeatedly — and no causal relationship has been found.
BANDWAGON
APPROACH
The bandwagon approach suggests something
is true because it is a popular belief; it is accepted by authorities or large
numbers of people; or because someone specific, based on their reputation,
agrees.
Example:
Suggesting many parents are concerned about vaccine safety so vaccines must be
unsafe is an example of using the bandwagon approach.
Reality check: While it is reasonable to be concerned about vaccines safety,
concern doesn’t mean that vaccines are unsafe. Scientific studies determine
vaccine safety, not the number of people who believe something might be a
problem.
EQUIVOCATION
OR AMBIGUITY
Equivocation occurs when someone takes
advantage of the fact that a word has more than one meaning to mislead.
Example:
When someone claims that vaccines are not safe because they are not “natural,”
it is an example of equivocation.
Reality check: The use of the word “natural” in this manner implies that vaccines
are not safe because they are manmade or because they are introduced in a way
that is different from exposure in the community. However, vaccines actually
protect us from pathogens, which are not manmade and can cause severe disease
and death. Vaccines are typically made from disease-causing agents, so that our
immune systems can recognize an exposure if it occurs in nature. Further, the
manner by which our immune systems are exposed to any foreign agent does not
alter its ability to respond. So suggesting that when it comes to vaccines,
natural is better is not only misleading, it is dangerous.
RED
HERRING
A red herring fallacy uses a parallel or
seemingly relevant argument to distract from the original point being
discussed.
Example:
When someone is discussing genetic mutations, such as the MTHFR mutation, and
then describes how the “poisons” in vaccines provoke an immune response in
genetically susceptible children, this is an example of a red herring because
the original point related to the mutation, but moved to a discussion of
vaccine ingredients as the problem rather than explaining why the genetic
mutation is problematic.
Reality check: People with the MTHFR mutation can be vaccinated since the mutation
has not been found to be problematic when it comes to vaccinations. Likewise,
vaccine ingredients have been studied and are safe in the quantities presented
in vaccinations.
Source
(includes seven more fallacies)
Logical fallacies and vaccines https://media.chop.edu/data/files/pdfs/vaccine-education-center-logical-fallacies.pdf
More
To Know
Evaluating information: what you should
know https://media.chop.edu/data/files/pdfs/vaccine-education-center-evaluating-info-qa.pdf
Anti-Vaxxers Misuse Federal Data to Falsely
Claim COVID Vaccines Are Dangerous https://www.vice.com/en/article/qjpmp7/anti-vaxxers-misuse-federal-data-to-falsely-claim-covid-vaccines-are-dangerous
Conspiracies Grow As COVID Spreads https://centerforinquiry.org/blog/conspiracies-grow-as-covid-spreads/
An incomplete list of COVID-19
quackery https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/an-incomplete-list-of-covid-19-quackery/
Red-Rated Sites With False Claims About The
Coronavirus: 427 And Counting https://www.newsguardtech.com/coronavirus-misinformation-tracking-center/
How to read coronavirus news and learn what
you actually need to know about staying safe in the pandemic https://theconversation.com/how-to-read-coronavirus-news-and-learn-what-you-actually-need-to-know-about-staying-safe-in-the-pandemic-144261
Myth Busters: Dietary Supplements and
COVID-19 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1060028020928052
Vaccine Refusal and Measles Outbreaks in
the US https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2769677
Christian Vaccination information and
Recommendations https://cmda.org/article/vaccination-information-and-recommendations/
Red Alert: Anti-Vaccination in the Age of
COVID-19 https://www.skeptic.com/reading_room/red-alert-anti-vaccination-in-the-age-of-covid-19/
Is the COVID-19 Vaccine Safe? https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/is-the-covid19-vaccine-safe
Selected Adverse Events Reported after
COVID-19 Vaccination https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/adverse-events.html
How Speaking Creates Droplets That May
Spread COVID-19 https://physics.aps.org/articles/v13/157
Latest Coronavirus News - Articles Written
by Scientists https://theconversation.com/us/covid-19
CDC COVID-19 Websites https://www.cdc.gov/library/researchguides/2019novelcoronavirus/websites.html
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Photo: https://www.fromthegrapevine.com/lifestyle/more-you-lie-easier-it-gets
Jerry De Luca is a Christian freelance writer who loves perusing dozens of interesting and informative publications. When he finds any useful info he summarizes it, taking the main points, and creates a (hopefully) helpful blog post.
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