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Comment by michaelcampbell | Hacker News Reader

> You shouldn't trust anybody other than yourself and your ability to recognise scientific consensus.

This is the anti-vaxxer motto, almost. I think I'll pass.

You are correct in that there are fundamental problems with a statement as simple as the one I made. Don't take it at face value though. If you ignore your surroundings and formulate an opinion that is obviously different, I'd argue your ability to recongnise scientific consensus is severely lacking - Distilling it into something like "Don't trust anyone other than the scientific consensus" might be better.

If you are highly intelligent, and recognize your own ignorance, then this works quite well. Anti-vaxxers get it wrong because they lack intellectual humility.

I thought we'd stop using "anti vaxx" as a slur now most of Europe and multiple world leaders have spent the last four months spreading or consuming anti-vaxx propaganda. It's not like that's a fringe position anymore.

> most of Europe and multiple world leaders have spent the last four months spreading or consuming anti-vaxx propaganda.

What? MOST of Europe? When did this happen?

I guess it depends how you define it, but France, Germany, Italy, Denmark etc all have been suspending the AZ vaccine as 'dangerous' although the actual reports of side effects are far less than the claimed danger from COVID. I admit I haven't made a formal list of every country and ticked them off to see if it's literally >50% of countries, but it's certainly >50% of Europe by GDP at this point.

That's still a far cry from "spreading propaganda".

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