Vaccine Misinformation
pick one of the four options below, and write a 1000-1200 word essay corresponding to it. You can also create your own topic, but you’ll have to get it approved by the instructor first.
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1. Pick some kind of speech or expression that some people think should be restricted, such as hate speech, misinformation, Holocaust denial, or pornography, and explain the argument for restricting it. Then explain how John Stuart Mill might argue that speech of that sort should not be restricted. Then state whether you agree with Mill’s argument, and explain your reasons for or against.
2. Should non-experts think critically about controversial issues? Why or why not? Are there certain issues where we should, but others where we shouldn’t? You could directly address Michael Huemer’s argument that we shouldn’t, although you don’t have to.
3. Pick a controversial topic. It could be moral or scientific (e.g. was COVID a lab leak?). Find or create one argument that agrees with your own point of view, and find another argument that disagrees. Then evaluate each argument. Specifically, state whether the premises are acceptable, relevant, and adequate to support the conclusion, and explain why or why not.
4. Find a prediction market that you think is mispriced. Explain why you think the market is mispriced, and give an explanation of what you think the odds should be. For whatever you think the odds are, make sure to justify both why the odds aren’t higher and why the odds aren’t lower. Then explain what new information might change your mind in either direction. What information could you get that would make you think the odds were higher? Lower? (You can find some prediction markets here: https://www(dot)predictit(dot)org/Links to an external site., https://www(dot)metaculus(dot)com/questions/Links to an external site., https://manifold(dot)markets/homeLinks to an external site., https://futuur(dot)comLinks to an external site.)
Papers will be graded based on clarity of writing, organization, quality of argument, and original thinking. Grading will be holistic, so your paper doesn’t necessarily need to do maximally well in all four ways. A paper that is very clearly written and well-organized but without much original thinking could score highly, and so could a paper that is weirdly organized but has a lot of interesting, original thinking.
Another important aspect of the marking scheme is that papers that seem to the instructor as if they were written by a large language model, rather than you, will receive a 0. So you should not use ChatGPT to write your paper, and you should not write in such a way as to make anyone suspect that maybe you did use ChatGPT to write your paper. If you're unsure about that, feel free to run your paper by me before submitting it.
Vaccine Misinformation
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Vaccine Misinformation
Misinformation is presenting false, misleading, or incorrect information. False information usually makes people refuse to do the right thing. For instance, misinformation concerning vaccines led people to be against vaccine vaccination. The healthcare community has been experiencing a high rate of people not getting vaccinated for many years. Due to many infections and diseases requiring vaccination, millions of lives have been saved annually. With the high use of technology and social media, the medical community has experienced fewer people receiving and completing the required vaccination schedule (Saunders, 2023). The large number of individuals who have shown a high level of vaccine refusal include certain religious or ethnic groups or among certain socioeconomic classes. Other than varied reasons for individuals not getting vaccinated, such as medical issues or complications, the big reason is misinformation and a lack of access to medical services. According to Saunders (2023), many people are against certain kinds of vaccination because they are unaware of the importance of vaccines or the potential health risks associated with not vaccinating. As a result of an adult not getting vaccinated and the negative view in the mind of many people, they opt not to vaccinate their children. The effects of failing vaccination rates have exceeded serious and demanding incidences like the coronavirus pandemic. Despite the increased infections and virus spread leading to many deaths, people refused to get vaccinated. They never saw or understood the significance of vaccinating and exercising the required protocols to protect themselves and their communities.
False or misleading information can harm people's mental and physical health, so restricting misinformation is important. Incorrect information or data can make people overwhelmed with anxiety and fear. According to Pulido et al. (2020), people might take the information seriously, have strong beliefs, and thus make decisions based on it, leading to severe consequences (Pulido et al., 2020). Such an instance is the realm of health. Serious ramifications can be experienced from false health information as people might have different thoughts about infections, treatment, and cures. Pulido et al. (2020) noted that people might be fooled by health advice, making them believe in unproven medication or that certain treatments are safe when there are not (Pulido et al., 2020). If misleading information is restricted, it might make individuals seek unnecessary treatment and tests as they believe they are sicker than they are. Fake news can make people develop health complications and become paranoid, anxious, and depressed. Such health issues can lead to physical symptoms like headaches and stress. Fake news does not only affect individuals alone but has significant impacts on countries. Governments might experience political unrest due to manipulated public opinion and propaganda.
John Mill was well-known for his stand on individual liberty and free discussion. His work on the free discussion of the right to express false information is relevant today. According to Mill...
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