word associations

[sasha_feather]

So people on Twitter have been like, "Say it with me, vaccines do not cause autism." Which is all well and good, but for years I've been thinking that the better strategy is to completely separate the words. Don't even say them in the same sentence at all.

Think word associations. Remember those Wordles that were popular a few years ago, that make an artistic picture of all the words in your document or story? They are a word association picture. By putting words into the same sentence (even with a "does not equal/cause") you are associating them.

Instead substitute things that are like are equal.

So, associate vaccines with, say: normalcy, goodness, hygiene, civic duty, scientific development, the fight against infectious diseases, etc.

ALSO

Associate autism with good things like equality, support, creativity, love, life, diversity, justice.

Just don't put them in the same sentence.

Comments

[thingswithwings]

Excellent point. <3

I do the "vaccines cause autism" false argument with my Argument class, to illustrate "zombie arguments" - ideas that you can't kill for trying, no matter how much evidence is on your side. And one of the things I challenge them on is what we call warrants - the unspoken assumptions that we have to believe in in order to believe in the argument. And the warrant that I'm always proudest of them for figuring out is: "we have to believe that autism is a bad thing, a terrible thing for your child to have, before this argument has weight." And I ask them to imagine this argument without the idea that autism is a disease, or a terrible thing. It's so hard to get them there, though.

[jesse_the_k]

That sounds like a challenging lesson indeed. For those of us with little rhetoric experience/wisdom, can you recommend a good starting place?

[thingswithwings]

Well, I can give you the reading list that I give my students for the autism stuff - or do you mean, background in rhetoric? For the rhetoric stuff, we mostly use the textbook, which is:

John D. Ramage, John C. Bean, and June C. Johnson, Eds. Writing Arguments: A Rhetoric with Readings, 9/E (9th edition, 2012). ISBN: 9780205171637

The stuff I give the students on the vaccines/autism scare is:

Kennedy, "Deadly Immunity"
Rosenberg, "Salon.com Retracts Vaccination Story, But Shouldn't Delete It"
Lauerman, "Behind the Vaccine Panic"
Cunningham, "The Facts in the Case of Dr. Andrew Wakefield"
Oakley and Johnston, "Balancing Benefits and Harms"
Wald, "Commentary: Silent Prevention"

And I can give you full references on those if you'd like.

[jesse_the_k]

Twas the title of the rhetoric textbook you provided, and I appreciate. Off to learn something, perhaps.

My goodness. The price of textbooks has skyrocketed! Not to mention the weight ... I'm searching for an ebook version right now.

[thingswithwings]

yeah, the textbook manufacturers work very hard to make students pay exorbitant prices. I assign that one b/c other profs at my school assign it so there are a lot of used copies around here the students can get. But that's why they also put out a new edition every year - to prevent used textbook sales. If you get one of the earlier editions it'll probably have mostly the same info and be much cheaper.

[jesse_the_k]

Good to know!

What a scam, although it makes a ton of sense. It seems like one can get textbooks in PDF, but true ebooks — ePub, mobi, azw — aren't available. Because of course college students have neither cash nor incentive to buy them. Reckon textbook publishers are getting it while they can.

[jesse_the_k]

"Normalcy" makes me itch since I'm so ab-, but your general point is a great one.

I associate vaccine with: sharing, community, protection, winter coats, rite of passage

I associate autism with: senses, lateral thinking, concentration, joy, connection, interpretive dance.