Final Draft Researched Argument

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Volunteer State Community College *

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1010

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English

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Oct 30, 2023

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docx

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Hayden Thompson Professor McKinney English 1020 2 April 2023 Researched Argument Conspiracy theories have been around for a very long time. From people reading about them just for personal interest to scientists who research them in order to debunk them. While there are many that may argue that conspiracy theories are harmless and are simply interesting “what-ifs” to think about for personal enjoyment, they are actually harmful to our society. Contrary to the belief that they are harmless, conspiracy theories as a whole contribute to negative speculation that has harmful impacts on our society and the behavior of people in the United States. From conspiracy theories on COVID-19 vaccinations to theories on birth control for Africans and African Americans being some type of attempt at genocide, these theories can truly affect the behavior of people in our country. The belief in conspiracy theories, such as anti- vaccination theories related to COVID-19, causes negative effects on behavior and attitudes in the US and is harmful to our society. Firstly, I will discuss a few specific theories that are harmful to society in general. Beginning with the COVID-19 theories, these are very well-known across the country. As many of you may know, when the vaccinations came out, there were many negative views and speculation about them. This led to people all over the United States refusing to get vaccinated, even after the FDA had approved it and publicly announced that they were safe. When the world was first faced with the global pandemic, the theories immediately surfaced into the world. Some of the theories were things like “Is the virus a hoax to control the general public?”, “Is it a Chinese bioweapon being used to attack the US?”, “Did 5G phone masts spread the virus?”, etc.

It was not very surprising when these theories emerged because theories like this always tend to come out during times of crisis in the world (van Prooijen & Douglas, 2017). Theories are not harmless, especially ones like this in particular. Recent research shows that belief in the theories about COVID-19 influenced negative consequences for people's intentions to comply with the government's recommendations of getting the vaccine when it was released. Other negative consequences of the Coronavirus theories also include willingness to engage in vandalism of 5G phone masts violence in general (Jolley & Paterson, 2020). Therefore, like other conspiracy theories, the COVID-19 theories have been dramatically harmful to society in the United States. Another two particularly harmful conspiracy theories to discuss are the theory of birth control being a form of genocide targeted at Africans and African Americans and the theory that mobile phones cause cancer. Starting with the theory about birth control relates to the negative attitudes toward contraception in the United States (e.g., Thorburn Bird & Bogart, Reference Thorburn Bird and Bogart, 2003; Thorburn & Bogart, Reference Thorburn and Bogart, 2005). This and perceived discrimination against Africans and African Americans in the United States also influenced the rejection of contraception. The theory on mobile phones giving people cancer has also contributed to negative impacts on society. According to Oliver and Wood (2014), over half of the population believes in this health-related conspiracy theory. This led to these people being less likely to trust medical officials and more likely to search for assistance elsewhere through alternative medicines (Lamberty & Imhoff, 2018). Research over the years has shown that people who believe in anti-vaccination theories have extremely reduced intentions to get a vaccine, and qualitative research shows that conspiracy theories play a major role in what choices people make (Craciun & Baban, Reference Craciun and Baban2012; Khan & Sahibzada, 2016). Health-related conspiracy theories in general, have negative effects on attitudes toward

medicine and anything else health-related. Once these people fall for one conspiracy theory on something health-related, they begin to have a tendency to speculate on other medicines and health officials, and it may result in them not trusting medicine in general. This can lead to very traumatic results for people’s health. Whether that may be death or severe illness, either way we need to avoid these harmful theories getting into our heads and preventing us from seeking out medical attention when it may be needed. Besides all of the specific conspiracy theories that I could talk about that harm our society, there is a much bigger problem. There is a large portion of society known as “anti- vaxxers”. They believe in theories that lead them away from vaccinations and that influences them to never get any vaccinations. These perceived fears of vaccination have specifically led people away from vaccinating their babies with vaccines such as the MMR vaccine. This has led to several outbreaks of diseases, like measles for example, which is a disease that was previously determined to be “eliminated”. We have also seen this effect with the COVID-19 vaccinations, like I explained above. The theories that get into these parents’ heads include ideas like “vaccines do more harm to children than good” or it may be due to religious or secular beliefs. The anti- vaccination movement effects our society negatively in various ways. It exposes other people to diseases and sicknesses that can be deadly in many circumstances, and it could potentially lead to a future outbreak that would cause a lot of deaths. This could easily be avoided by vaccinations that our medical community has worked so hard to successfully provide for the United States. The religious factor in anti-vaccination is said to go back to as far as the 18 th century. People believed that it was against God to be treated with vaccines, because it would be against God punishing them for their sins by giving them deadly diseases and sicknesses. Word went around that vaccines were officially considered “the devil’s work” and therefore if you get vaccinated

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