Christopher Delgado's Essay 'The Culture Of Denial'

In the essay “The Culture of Denial” (2015), written by Christopher Delgado, the author claims that people mistrust the scientific community because of their beliefs. Delgado expresses this by giving examples of the major topics that people may disagree with scientific studies, such as: denying evolution, not believing in global warming, and believing vaccines do more harm than good. The author uses these examples in order to show the several stages of denial skeptics fall within. Delgado’s essay is intended for a general audience, but specifically addresses skeptics.
I agree with Delgado, I do believe some people are in denial because of their personal beliefs, or they are just ignorant. I do not understand how people can still deny evolution when there is scientific evidence

proving that it happened.

I understand parents being cautious when it comes to their children getting vaccinated because of their own beliefs, but the scientific evidence proves that getting vaccinated is less likely to cause dangerous side effects. I believe if people were actually educated on all of the new scientific evidence, then maybe they would not be stuck in their ways.
Christopher Delgado began stating there is skepticism when it comes to scientific discoveries. He provided evidence from several cases where people deny the proof provided, such as: evolution, global warming, and pollution. He had a strong argument until he began speaking about vaccines. Delgado provided information on why vaccines are created, his argument began to weaken when he mentioned vaccine exemption rates. Delgado stated, “During the 2013-14 school year, the median nationwide kindergarten vaccination exemption rate was only 1.8%, but among individual schools and communities, the rates sometimes soared to 60% (262-63)”. When included

the rates among individual schools and communities soaring it makes the parents being skeptical about vaccines seem to have a valid reason. He continued to mention why parents refused to get their children vaccinated made his argument flop. He mentioned, “There are even published studies show that show a correlation between measles vaccine and autism, as well as the fact that some synthetic additives found in vaccines can cause damage to the immune system, and the brain (263)”. When he included that the vaccines actually have evidence proving that they cause harm made his argument about people being in denial about new scientific discoveries go out the window. However Delgado did try to regain his audience by claiming, “Even though a majority of studies show that vaccines are very helpful to children, and that the good effects far outweigh any bad effects, many parents still feel unsafe and uncomfortable with presenting their child with any sense of danger (263)”. Delgado used a counterargument that did not work in his favor which actually made the audience vote turn against his theory that people mistrust scientific discoveries because they are in denial.