RavenSmith

This is the conversation I had considering this issue. Karen is my mom. I did my best to incorporate some of the advice posted here. I would like your thoughts, please. https://www.facebook.com/HerSilentKn1ght/posts/1252211398180232

Thank you to the max for your responses.

I'm getting close to losing faith in the future of our species. Living in Texas, I've met more than a few people who flat out refuse to investigate evidence that contradicts their world view. . 1. I'm acquaintances with an anti-vaccination advocate. No matter how much evidence, reasoned argument, or consequentialist rhetoric I provided, the final exchange from her was "Neither of us are willing to change our position. I will not be responding to this or any other threads with you concerning vaccines." I can't agree to disagree. If I'm wrong, I'm fucking WRONG. I would hope to any given deity that someone would care about me enough to correct me. I can't comprehend how someone can not only be comfortable with bad faith, but actively pursue and protect it. It keeps me up at night and it makes me ashamed to carry 46 chromosomes. 2. My own mother is a conspiracy theorist. I can point out her logical fallacies all day long, but it doesn't matter. I can hold my phone up to her face with contradictory evidence and she looks at the ceiling while claiming that my phone's screen is too small to show a proper video. I've been to Afghanistan and I don't think I was as pissed over there as I was on that particular night. It's humiliating and frustrating and invokes far too many emotions for what should be a simple exchange and examination of facts. . The foundation of my personal ethics hinges on the premise that humans are, at the core, a species that can improve itself. We have neuroplasticity and can adapt to new information. We can learn. We take pain seriously, be it mental or physical. We seek what is true simply because it is unreasonable to do anything else. Because humans are capable of organizing and imposing order among chaos, any observing entity should therefore do it's utmost to support said species in it's endeavors. But these seem to be the exception rather than the rule. Why should I help a species that won't help itself? Why should I care about animals that don't care about anything other than brainstem dopamine? Why should I strive to educate those who refuse to learn? Some people are more concerned with food and clean water than quantum mechanics. I get it and I'm not blaming them. But I expect better of humans in the age of the internet. I'm not the bastion of enlightenment. I can't even perform basic calculus yet. But I still expect better of my species. Is that wrong?

Say you're a pediatrician. You come across a patient's parents who express concern for vaccine-induced autism and it depends upon you to assuage their fears. An example argument I've come across is that cases of mitochondrial dysfunction are potential hazards when a post-vaccine fever presents itself, leading to poor metabolism in the brain, resulting in permanent brain damage and autism-like symptoms. If you attempt to explain the counter-science (not to mention the essentially nonexistent correlation), it doesn't matter. How do you approach parents who are 100% obstinate to scientific research? How do you approach ANYBODY who is unwilling to read any further than a cursory glance?

Hello all. In joining this forum, it is my goal to socially entrench myself within this community. I want to learn math. I finished college algebra and am having difficulty motivating myself to study further. I hope that those here would enjoy explaining to me where, how, and why each of the different mathematical disciplines are rewarding or useful. I want to learn physics. I want to learn the rulebook to this game of life. I want to understand what we can achieve and what is currently beyond our grasp. I want to learn about artificial intelligence and machine learning. I want to, at the very least, be informed about the most recent developments in computer science and be able to grasp the consequences of them. Most importantly, I hope to meet proud nerds who can show me what math has accomplished and how I can contribute. I'm looking at Mount Everest here. I need sherpa help. Edit: Upon the election of he who shall not be named (HWSNBN), I have reached an epiphany that science education in our society is both vital and currently insufficient. I want to know enough to teach. I'm kind of an ignant ol boy from Cut N' Shoot, Texas and was never given a proper academic pep talk. What's the old saying? "Associate with who you want to be like," or something along those lines.