Bad Astronomer Phil Plait on vaccinations

Post Reply New Topic

As far as flu shots go, I leave it to the individual. I have to have them, being in two high risk groups, diabetics and asthmatics. A case of the flu that would put most people in bed for a couple of days, could put me on a ventilator in ICU... or worse. Which means everyone in my house needs to be vaccinated too. It doesn't PREVENT us from getting sick, but it does definitely reduce the severity of the illness, as long as the bug we get was one of the 3 in that years flu vaccine. We also have the problem in this country of having spotty and expensive medical coverage, and archaic business practices regarding sick employees. If someone in my department is sick and needs to be home, that's where they are and they're covered. It's not that way in the department next door. It's crazy, but that's the way it is. People come in to work sick, spread disease and make a HUGE mess of things, because they're afraid they'll lose their job if they don't. In many cases they're right, too. They would lose their job.

Yeah, I've developed asthma recently thanks to the flu. I'm going to a homeopath next week to try and sort it out and get rid of it, will let you know if I have any success. I've found them far better than doctors in the past so hopefully it'll sort it all out.

I can definitely understand the worry about work etc in the states... having seen Sicko I really don't know how you do it over there!!

Well I can tell you, being in the "medical system" as an Aspie, can certainly be a different experience. I was in ICU for 8 days, and in a semi-private regular room for 12 more. In that 12 days I had 4 different roommates. The nurses were phenominal, caring and understanding, but still, having a parade of new people, new staff I had to deal with, it could be hell. Top that off with the fact their wi-fi system was detectable, but wouldn't let me in, even though it was public, was incredibly frustrating. 20 days offline. I was only SUPPOSED to be in for 7-8 days total, but I had to be "interesting". NEVER be "interesting" for the doctor...

They are located close to sensory organs vital to our survival, our eyes and ears, who in turn are positioned high and on a very flexible limb, our heads. Imagine you had to turn your whole body just to look sideways. That 'design' was inherited from species before us that had even more need for a flexible, fast and accurate sensory systems and turned out to be even more profitable when going upright.

My point, yes. It makes sense from an evolutionary standpoint. It does not make sense from the ID standpoint, which claims we were designed pretty much as we are today, by some intelligence (they think that by being vague, they can claim they're not really talking about God). As I pointed out, many things which make sense about our design when considered evolutionarily (the vestigial tail, the vermiform appendix, placement and nature of sensory organs, etc) are ridiculous if we're supposed to have been "designed" as we are.

(Not essentially dissimilar from David Brin's contention that even if we take the tales of supposed UFO abductees at face value, we can rule out contact by intelligent aliens - because the way they are described as acting is hardly intelligent...)

Correct. Like I said, though: some other species have found alternate configurations to be, if not ideal, at least useful. Granted, those do not have complex processing organs like the mammalian brain, but this variety is what gives cognitive scientists insight into the necessity of a system like ours. Eyes on stalks and ears in our thighs while our brains are in our abdomens would not make a significant difference, as far as processing speed is concerned. Now that is a human mutation I would love to see functioning.

Can you name a species that does not need a "flexible, fast and accurate sensory system"? I'll wager even those that do not have them could benefit from such an addition.