Events
Eliza Jane Maggiore died in 2005 at the age of three after her HIV-positive mother refused to give her to treatment, believing that the daughter is healthy. Eliza is not the first child to die as a result of such connivance, and she probably won't be the last.
Many children will die because there are enough people who deny the existence of global climate change. It will be very difficult to force humanity to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, even if everyone in the world admits their personal guilt. The refusal of a large number of people to accept and recognize the existence of a fact delays the adoption of important decisions and guidelines for action.
We humans are not essentially rational beings. Sometimes our desire to understand the world around us misleads us: when a child is diagnosed with autism, for example, it becomes very difficult for many parents to admit that no one has yet the specialist could not fully explain.
When we form an opinion about something, we're willing to grab hold of anything that confirms our point of view, but we often ignore or get annoyed when we see the obvious evidence to the contrary. Fear often causes us to make bad decisions.
Rationality also has its problems. Many things that motivate us and keep us moving forward, such as love and sexual relationships, often have little to do with common sense. And often, things that a person genuinely believes in become reality, just like the placebo effect.
Therefore, it is often very difficult to be rational, as it goes against our feelings. But if humanity wants to survive as a species, let alone make the world a better place to live, there is no alternative to science and reason. We must base our actions on reality, on how things really are, not on how we would like them to, and choose leaders who think in the same way.