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Comment by fasteddie31003 | Hacker News Reader

Then let natural selection run its course to favor reason.

As vaccines are not 100% effective at saving individuals but "herd immunity" can eliminate viruses despite that if vaccination is widespread, the people killed by anti-vaxxers are often not anti-vaxxers or even anti-vaxxers' kids. Especially not with a virus like Covid. Technically the gullible and mendacious killing the vulnerable is natural selection, but you'll have a tough job convincing me the right of morons to an mass audience on certain websites takes precedence over the right of older people to live

My Dad got the vaccine and developed no antibodies. Nor did any other kidney recipients under his doctor's care. The immunosupressive drugs he's on are the cause.

That’s a well reasoned counter argument, but the tone is overly hostile.

Fair point (although I wasn't the first person in the thread to use a derogatory term about antivaxxers, and probably wouldn't use it if I actually expected there were plenty of people somewhat sympathetic to their arguments browsing this forum)

I do think the fact that people die as a result of this messaging is worth emphasising though, particularly when weighed against the supposed human right to use Facebook to disseminate their speech.

>Then let natural selection run its course to favor reason.

Well we are, and thus the exploding case numbers right now in the anti-vax portions of the US. Darwinism is not a great public health policy though.

I don't believe in censorship, but that doesn't mean you give people a bullhorn to spout false information. This platforms have a responsibility to not give a bullhorn out in these cases. This isn't censorship, it is not allowing scientifically false claims to spread.

Do you really want Facebook or their contractors to be the arbiters of truth? Putting aside whatever mixed incentives they might have, they're hardly qualified to be authoritative about an uncertain medical situation. And as the top level commenter we're all replying to pointed out, they censored a lot of stuff that turned out to be true. So it's not just a hypothetical concern.

Science is the arbiters of truth, it's a process not a destination. FB needs to stop giving people a loudspeaker, they can say it, but it doesn't get amplified.I'd love to see FB ban all conversations around politics.

We shouldn't be so afraid of some mistakes while the entire world burns down around us. Make mistakes, but due it in the pursuit of a better society.

> exploding case numbers

https://usafacts.org/visualizations/coronavirus-covid-19-spr...

What?

It's not the most palatable, but it is very effective, and should be allowed to proceed unencumbered.

Unfortunately, the anti-vaxxers hurt tons of innocent, responsible folks. Like my Dad who didn't develop antibodies from the vaccine due to the immunosupressive drugs he takes so he doesn't reject my kidney.

Anti-vaxxers also hurt people who don't want to lose their loved ones who've been turned into anti-vaxxers and have been impossible to reason with because they've been inundated with anti-vax propaganda.

The references to darwinism here are especially infuriating cause in many cases it's specifically parents (older people) who are anti vaxxers. Bit late for natural selection. And also such a cruel thing to say.

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