We need more philosophy to create cognitive herd immunity

Summary

This article by Nicholas Agar, writing for ABC-Australia, makes the following points:

• There is a link between a population’s cognitive herd immunity and herd immunity against the coronavirus.
• We’ve seen scientists struggle to get their message about the safety of vaccines through to enough people to achieve increasing vaccination thresholds.
• Once the beliefs that vaccines are dangerous or that COVID-19 is a fiction invented by ‘Big Pharma’ become entrenched, it is difficult to get people to change their minds.
• Social media is part of the problem. Its messages penetrate our cognitive defences and can amplify our fears about vaccines.

References

Recent Runway Posts related to this topic:

• What are the keys to successful crisis communication? | The Runway (airforce.gov.au)

References from the Web:

• MAY 2021 Anxious About Vaccines? Cognitive Psychology Can Help—Psychology Today
• NOV 2021 How cognitive biases and adverse events influence vaccine decisions (maybe even your own)—The Conversation

Source Information ABC-AUSTRALIA:

• Article Source: ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
• Media Check: ABC News - Media Bias Fact Check (mediabiasfactcheck.com)
• LEARNING OUTCOMES—RUNWAY | The Runway (airforce.gov.au)