In the last few days, I have been involved in some discussions that have at times turned hostile and in one case very heated... borderline name calling. In the name calling (almost) thread, the discussion was vaccines. I asked if everyone thought the HPV vaccine should be mandatory or not. I thought it was a fairly simple question. Turns out this was/is a sacred cow for some people, too. They think or seem to think that if the government (FDA) says it's okay and the drug company (Merck) that puts it out says it's okay and they have studies to show it worked over the last 4 years (according to their reports) that it should be okay to put on the market and mandated for every girl before she finishes the 6th grade.
My problem isn't that they think the vaccine should be mandated. My problem is that they don't like it when someone disagrees with their logic because they have 'numbers to back up what they say'. Since I don't have numbers to back up what I say, I'm being ridiculous, paranoid, rhetorical, snide, sarcastic and many other things. They say it's "not fun" and "not educational" and "frustrating" to talk with a person like me because I'm "not talking sense". What they fail to realize is that just because the numbers say something is okay doesn't mean that it is ... and just because the numbers don't say something is okay doesn't mean that it isn't.
I like numbers and fully believe numbers are important, but so are my feelings. If a person is going to try to force me into something because the statistics say it's okay to do this, they have another thing coming. Yes, I can be snide, sarcastic, rude, obnoxious, arrogant and pig headed ... just like most people I know ... but I never said they were wrong .... I said I disagree with the position they were taking as I don't trust the government to decide what's good for me and I don't trust drug companies to give accurate reports when billions of dollars are at stake.
Maybe I'm crazy, paranoid or nuts, but statistics aren't going to make me change my mind until and unless I gather the statistics myself.
My problem isn't that they think the vaccine should be mandated. My problem is that they don't like it when someone disagrees with their logic because they have 'numbers to back up what they say'. Since I don't have numbers to back up what I say, I'm being ridiculous, paranoid, rhetorical, snide, sarcastic and many other things. They say it's "not fun" and "not educational" and "frustrating" to talk with a person like me because I'm "not talking sense". What they fail to realize is that just because the numbers say something is okay doesn't mean that it is ... and just because the numbers don't say something is okay doesn't mean that it isn't.
I like numbers and fully believe numbers are important, but so are my feelings. If a person is going to try to force me into something because the statistics say it's okay to do this, they have another thing coming. Yes, I can be snide, sarcastic, rude, obnoxious, arrogant and pig headed ... just like most people I know ... but I never said they were wrong .... I said I disagree with the position they were taking as I don't trust the government to decide what's good for me and I don't trust drug companies to give accurate reports when billions of dollars are at stake.
Maybe I'm crazy, paranoid or nuts, but statistics aren't going to make me change my mind until and unless I gather the statistics myself.
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New Jersey
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