Responses to this week questions (2)

Responses Question Shankar Vedantan’s notion that attitudes shape facts rather than facts shaping attitudes is a true and an acceptable inference. Stating particular facts to certain individuals that have negative attitudes towards the impending issue may as well be a waste of time. Once people conform to a particular mindset, it is difficult for them to deviate from their beliefs. Therefore, an effective way of successfully exposing people to facts would first involve changing their attitudes or beliefs. For instance, changing the negative attitude that parents have towards the MMR vaccine is a task that is beyond the provision safety messages. The safety messages would not be acceptable to all the parents. The prevalent negative attitude would make some of them to establish other arguments that would counter the new safety information. Therefore, the attitude held by such parents should first be changed before they are introduced to the safety messages thus ensuring that the messages or facts will be effective on them (Vedantam, 2014).
Question 2
People may opt to ignore or take certain matters for granted without credible basis. It is imperative for such people to first understand how certain things work as opposed to making uniformed decisions that results into ignorance. If a person can explain a particular issue, the inference that can be made is that the individual has prior understanding of the matter and reacts appropriately. It is less likely for an individual that is able to understand and explain certain issues to resort to ignorance. Ignorance is common among people who choose to disregard issues without trying to understand them exhaustively. Therefore, for ignorance to be eradicated, people should explain how things work as opposed to holding baseless positions that are characterized by ignorance.
References
Vedantam, Shankar. (March 4, 2014). When It Comes To Vaccines, Science Can Run Into A Brick Wall. NPR. Web. June 13, 2015. Retrieved from http://www. npr. org/2014/03/04/285580969/when-it-comes-to-vaccines-science-can-run-into-a-brick-wall