Well said, RG. As a society we suffer from a lack of critical thinking skills. One logical fallacy that often comes into play, particularly in the anti-vax/autism circus, is known by its Latin name, post hoc ergo propter hoc. It literally means "after this, therefore because of this."
Just because event Y occurred after event X does not mean that event X caused event Y. For example, it would be laughable if older workers refused to retire because all workers who retire die! People do retire and then die but retirement does not necessarily cause death.