146 years ago The New York Times published an article lamenting anti-vaxxers, the piece began: "One might suppose that the popular prejudice against vaccination might have died out by this time, considering it has been practice for nearly a century." Today this statement is as amusing as it is painful, when considering anti-vaxxers remain a relevant movement. It rightly observed that “It seems useless to quote science, and a long and successful practice, against such dense stupidity as this. The ignoramus has a prejudice against the regular practitioner, and, with cruel kindness he kills his friend while trying to protect him against the art of a learned physician” going on to say “In spite of all our boasted progress curious revelations of popular ignorance and superstition are constantly showing us how little advance has been made." It finishes with a prediction “When knowledge is more evenly distributed there will be less of this fantastic and ignorant prejudice” - unfortunately, he was wrong.

Source: The New York Times, 1875 https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1875/08/17/79089660.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0

📷 “Photographs are made to lie” (1897) + 🚲 “Bicycle Insanity” (1896)

Pessimists AloudBy Pessimists AloudJul 15, 2021