http://www.sanjaykairam.com/blog/2010/02/the-madness-of-crowds-from-tulipomania-to-the-anti-vax-movement/ Graduate Student & Armchair Philosopher Wed, 04 May 2011 19:59:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.sanjaykairam.com/blog/2010/02/the-madness-of-crowds-from-tulipomania-to-the-anti-vax-movement/comment-page-1/#comment-83 Amy Bruckman Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:11:23 +0000 http://www.sanjaykairam.com/blog/?p=150#comment-83 Nice post! I agree that the web has played a role in reinforcing this sort of stuff. Another underlying issue is that in times of tragedy, people want something to blame. So for example, silicon breast implants have been blamed for tons of stuff they're just not responsible for. But one jury held the manufacturer liable because they felt sorry for the poor woman who was ill, and then other courts used that as a precedent. The other theme here then is the public's poor understanding of the nature of scientific proof, and the difference between correlation and causality. Nice post! I agree that the web has played a role in reinforcing this sort of stuff. Another underlying issue is that in times of tragedy, people want something to blame. So for example, silicon breast implants have been blamed for tons of stuff they’re just not responsible for. But one jury held the manufacturer liable because they felt sorry for the poor woman who was ill, and then other courts used that as a precedent. The other theme here then is the public’s poor understanding of the nature of scientific proof, and the difference between correlation and causality.

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