Thread by @c0nc0rdance

Now that we've defined the Discovery Institute's 'Wedge Strategy', let's talk about how it's become the model for infiltrating public consciousness with poisonous ideologies.

Let's focus on how it's used in anti-vaccine movements first.

There was a change in tone around 2004 in the anti-vaccine movement. Jenny McCarthy and Robert Kennedy Jr. began using talking points like:
"Green our vaccines!" (remove mercury & aluminum)
"Too many, too soon!"
"I'm not anti-vaccine, I'm pro-SAFE vaccine.

The goal is to locate pre-existing soft points. Conceal your true intentions by hiring a messaging expert to change the conversation. Not pro- vs. anti-, but unsafe vs. safe; or "more research needed".

The goal isn't to convince experts or scientists. It's to muddy the water.

Robert Kennedy, Jr. was one of two groups making large ad buys on social media, especially Facebook. His messaging wasn't for hard-core fans, it was workshopped messaging designed to appeal to concerned parents, political hot-buttons (glyphosate and fetal cells).

There's a change in tone from "vaccines cause autism" (attack) to "protect our kids" (pathos appeal) & the mainstream scientists become the enemy of the movement, so they target them as 'pharma shills', just as every biologist is a "Darwinist" or "materialist" to creationists.

The inevitable response by the scientific community was to try to address each falsehood or ideological talking point, which is futile.

It's a tactic invented by creationists: the Gish Gallop. It takes 10 times longer to refute a falsehood than it does to create it.

Science is outgunned in the ideology & PR department. We rely on facts & evidence, which withers in the face of fear & doubt. We *can't* use pathos appeals, because it's antithetical to our principles.

So goes the Wedge Strategy in vaccine denialism.