[Samantha] Bee illustrated her case with Sarah Pope, who heads up a blog that, among other things, encourages parents not to vaccinate their kids. Pope denies that there’s a scientific consensus for the effectiveness of vaccinations, suggesting that the decline in epidemics occurred for “other reasons.”…. “You could line up the doctors from here to down the block refuting me,” Pope promised, “but I’m not gonna change my mind.”…. “What does ‘consensus’ really mean, anyway?” Bee quipped. “It’s just a really fancy word for ‘overwhelming agreement.’”
Growing up, I was taught that science was destined to do great things for humanity by the time I became an adult. Diseases would be cured, problems solved, conflicts resolved…and science has certainly held up its end of the bargain. Unfortunately, the one thing that hasn’t become sufficiently advanced and modern is the human capacity for sheer stupidity. Clinging to ridiculous beliefs despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary is a human trait dating back to Adam & Eve (Come on; who listens to a talking snake, anyway?). These days, denial of abject, provable truth is being taken to absurd and indefensible lengths. That rejection of scientific evidence may have real world consequences for our children and for public health.
I regularly ridicule Right-wing ideologues for denying the validity and reality of global climate change. It’s a case of denying what 97% of scientists agree on- the rise in CO2 levels is man-made and harming our planet- and clinging to the 3% who don’t believe global climate change is real. The reasoning behind rejecting 97% and clinging to the reasoning of 3% is both ideological and idiotic. This is long-established and hardly newsworthy, but it does amply demonstrate the human capacity for elevating personal belief over empirical reality.
It’s been said that Fundamentalism is the sound made when a mind slams shut. To that definition we should also add science denial.
When it comes to vaccine deniers, we’ve learned that ignorance and science denial doesn’t always respect ideological boundaries. In the case of those who refuse to vaccinate their children, the stupid is strong in Liberal enclaveslike New York, California, and even here in Oregon. You wouldn’t think such normally well-educated and worldly people could be so willfully and aggressively ignorant…and you’d be wrong. Vaccine deniers would put their children and the general public at risk because they’ve convinced themselves of things that have been repeatedly debunked. And there are celebrities like Jenny McCarthy and Mayim Bialik (who holds a Ph.D.) who are more than happy to use their name recognition to push the overwhelmingly debunked belief that vaccines cause autism.
“Scientific consensus?” What does that really mean when you’re absolutely convinced that scientists are wrong and that the studies they cite as “evidence” are propaganda paid for by drug companies whose only concern is their bottom line. What does it mean when you refuse to let doctors vaccinate inject toxins with unknown side effects into your children? What does it mean when your denial of the public health benefits of vaccinations threatens to place not only your children, but the public in general at greater risk of preventable diseases? And what does it mean when an intelligent, lucid, well-educated person can reject scientific evidence from multiple sources and place their faith in one long-discredited study (using fudged data) that linked vaccinations to autism?
The lesson here is that stupid doesn’t respect human conventions like ideology. Stupid is one of the few things found in ample quantities on both the Far Left and the Far Right. Stupid is amazing in its ability to spread at warp speed and to render the previously rational and intellectually agile incapable of rationally examining facts. Stupid can circle the globe and be ready for a second lap before the truth drags itself out of bed. Therein lies the problem. In this case stupid may result in increase deaths from things like measles, whooping cough, and other preventable diseases. Stupid may have very real and significant real world consequences…all because of Left-wing idiocy and science denial. I can think of no other way to describe this phenomenon other that sheer, unmitigated stupidity.
Many have conjectured about the sorts of things that might eventually kill off humanity. There are numerous working theories, but none of them seem as viable as the idea that we’ll probably be killed off by our own stupidity and refusal to believe scientists…because what does “scientific consensus” really mean, anyway??
