Risk assessment is not an exact science. One size does not fit all. There have certainly been bad vaccines pulled from the market. And people die every year from flu vaccine reactions. Pulling money from studies and testing is not the way to address the problem. Having known folks who survived polio I was glad of the vaccine when I was a child. I have friends that have brought their kids up without vaccines. But they use homeopathy, diet, etc to keep their immune systems strong. Some kids just do not have strong immune systems. Just keep them home when they are sick. And masks do help if you have ever travelled in many asian countries and seen them in use long before covid. Good article, makes one think.
Agree and it even becomes difficult to have honest conversations around the small but real risks of vaccines as that seems like “ceding ground” to the other side
I love this, and I don’t think your hypothetical mother is unrealistic. Have you heard of the book Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg? I really enjoyed it, in particular it had some really interesting chapters on medical communication. If those are anything to go by, then your hypothetical mother is actually quite spot on - the book talked about how diverse (and seemingly confusing) the vaccine-hesitant group actually is, and how each of them needs a slightly different approach. And guess what the underlying issue usually boiled down to? Jup, values.
The predominant “we just need to give people the facts” approach of medical/science communication drives me bonkers - there is even a name for it (which I’m sure you’re familiar with) cause science communication has studied this: the deficit model, and we *know* that it’s not the main reason people make “non-scientific” decisions.
There has been nothing more eye-opening than stepping outside the science bubble and into the wellness bubble when I trained as a yoga teacher. I met so many people who really deeply care about helping others but who’s views on science, how and when to apply it, would make the vast majority of scientists (that I know) brush them aside as ignorant and uninformed, stupid even. But these people are not stupid. They are driven by a completely different value system, and if we don’t talk to them from there, we will absolutely not get anywhere.
Risk assessment is not an exact science. One size does not fit all. There have certainly been bad vaccines pulled from the market. And people die every year from flu vaccine reactions. Pulling money from studies and testing is not the way to address the problem. Having known folks who survived polio I was glad of the vaccine when I was a child. I have friends that have brought their kids up without vaccines. But they use homeopathy, diet, etc to keep their immune systems strong. Some kids just do not have strong immune systems. Just keep them home when they are sick. And masks do help if you have ever travelled in many asian countries and seen them in use long before covid. Good article, makes one think.
Agree and it even becomes difficult to have honest conversations around the small but real risks of vaccines as that seems like “ceding ground” to the other side
Very well done. Highly recommended.
I love this, and I don’t think your hypothetical mother is unrealistic. Have you heard of the book Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg? I really enjoyed it, in particular it had some really interesting chapters on medical communication. If those are anything to go by, then your hypothetical mother is actually quite spot on - the book talked about how diverse (and seemingly confusing) the vaccine-hesitant group actually is, and how each of them needs a slightly different approach. And guess what the underlying issue usually boiled down to? Jup, values.
The predominant “we just need to give people the facts” approach of medical/science communication drives me bonkers - there is even a name for it (which I’m sure you’re familiar with) cause science communication has studied this: the deficit model, and we *know* that it’s not the main reason people make “non-scientific” decisions.
There has been nothing more eye-opening than stepping outside the science bubble and into the wellness bubble when I trained as a yoga teacher. I met so many people who really deeply care about helping others but who’s views on science, how and when to apply it, would make the vast majority of scientists (that I know) brush them aside as ignorant and uninformed, stupid even. But these people are not stupid. They are driven by a completely different value system, and if we don’t talk to them from there, we will absolutely not get anywhere.