Authority, Familiarity, and Integrity

Water fluoridation... one of my favorite subjects to talk about. Partially, this is because the concept is a crystalized example of a much deeper, more sinister problem. That problem, in my mind, is a wide-spread combination of a.) an egoistic inability to complete period internal evaluations, b.) casual acceptance of authority, c.) quick dismissal of critics, and d.) a series of logical fallacies made by many that results in their continued acceptance of a status quo (e.g. prejudicial language, popularity of position, unrepresentative sample, fallacy of exclusion, begging the question).

The reason I bring this up is that I was, very surprisingly and dissapointingly, unable to have a decent conversation about this issue with a group of supposedly educated, intellectually able, aware Fulbright Fellows. According to my a through d rubric outlined above, this is how the conversation went:

1. Fluoride is a household word, in so many products, was around at home as far back as I can remember.. why would I second guess it now?
2. The American Dental Association, the Centers for Disease Control, my dentist, and my mother tell me fluoride is good.
3. Wasn't fluoride some communist conspiracy in that movie "Dr. Strangelove" - why would the government lie to me?
4. Logical fallacies:
   
1. Prejudicial language: fluoride helps children, how evil you are to oppose it
   
2. Popularity: fluoride is everywhere, "everyone" supports it
3. Unrepresentative sample: all medical professionals support it
4. Fallacy of Exclusion: "hundreds" of reports show that fluoride is good (usually non-specific)
5. Begging the question: our teeth are made of fluorine compounds, fluoridation of any type is therefore beneficial

The point of whether fluoride is good or not lost it's relevance during the heat of this conversation, and my issue began to be the poor quality of the debate. Pointing out peoples' logical fallacies is a dangerous situation, pointing out their egoism is recipe for a fight, and trying to shake off the "Dr. Strangelove"-you-lost-your-credibility effect is very hard. The end effect here is that issues such as fluoridation simply can't compete on the "debate table" erected over dinner. And then this girl said something along the lines of, "Do you even know who you're talking to? I'm a incoming medical school student." At that point, I kind of lost my head, because 1.) She was actually in the application phase, which is NO guarantee of admission, even for a Fulbrighter, 2.) Undergraduate preparation for medical school doesn't include barely any of the issue we were discussing, and 3.) Stating that one has authority, a title, credibility before one has them is a big no-no.

So I'm not making any friends fast, but I also don't exactly need friends around me who can't deal with a little non-mainstream opinion. My lesson: diplomacy skills and charisma are something I'll need to develop... soon.