Breadcrumb Trail Links
The thought that vaccines cause autism is still alive despite being widely disproven. Photo by iStock /GETTY IMAGES
Article content
“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” — Mark Twain.
Advertisement 2
Article content
Article content
Recommended Videos
Article content
Sam Clemons (aka Mark Twain) was no fool and neither is Timothy Caulfield. The University of Alberta professor has been one of Canada’s leading voices of common sense and reliance on facts (science). His latest book is entitled The Certainty Illusion-What You Don’t Know and Why it Matters.
This book is worth a read for anyone who still cares about what’s real and what isn’t. Caulfield is hopeful there are still a few of those people around. He believes that we need genuine experts more than ever “to cut through the noise on your behalf.”
Sadly, he acknowledges that the spread of misinformation has accelerated over the past decade to the point where we have become at best numb, and at worst accepting of pseudo science and “alternative universes of information.”
The Winnipeg Sun’s Daily Headline News
Article content
Advertisement 3
Article content
In one section of the book he outlines what he calls “zombie science.” These are items which, although proven to be false, somehow remain alive in the minds of the public. He specifically mentions that false narrative that vaccines cause autism. This widely disproved claim still somehow has life.
“Lies” says Caulfield, “bind people together, making it difficult to climb out of the rabbit hole.” When so many others subscribe to an untruth, the temptation is great to follow along.
Who is responsible for all of this? The short answer might be all of us. Traditional media has seen a sharp decline in recent years and the overall quality of reporting, particularly when it comes to science, has been poor.
Scientists themselves are forced to fight for grant money and there’s a tendency to make research applications sound more promising and sexier than they might be in reality. As Caulfield states “Incentive is baked into our research environment.”
Advertisement 4
Article content
“Smear campaigns” against genuine science and experts proliferate on the Internet and elsewhere. There is no requirement to be a podcaster other than the ability to buy some equipment and broadcast. As Caulfield states “The lighthouses we turn to are being torn down.”
Among the red flags to watch for, Caulfield mentions “science-y language” Many products are sold to us with vague claims about having solid science behind them when there may be little or none. Skin care products are an example that fall into this category.
There’s also been an explosion in the number of so-called medical journals which contain a vast array of conspiracy theories and junk science. It’s easy enough for anyone to be fooled but it’s always best to check more than one source and to emerge from one’s own echo chamber.
Advertisement 5
Article content
It has become fashionable to mistrust not only scientists, but experts in all areas. Blind faith is never a good thing but the temptation to dismiss anything put forward by those with some expertise has become powerful. If the so-called experts got it wrong once it’s easy enough to convince ourselves that they’re wrong every time.
Perhaps one of the great paradoxes when it comes to the belief in conspiracy theories like Bill Gates putting microchips in your vaccine, is that not everyone who believes the bunk is stupid. To the contrary many are quite intelligent but have somehow been persuaded that the grass is blue and the sky is green. We just need to, as Cualfield says, “take a beat” and consider what we’re reading or hearing.
We can be thankful that there are still a few voices out there like Timothy Caulfield to remind us to check our sources and take the time to separate fact from fiction.
Recommended from Editorial
CURRIER: Perks of buying local amidst the anti-Americanism frenzy
CURRIER: The honeymoon is over Kinew, it’s time for results
— Geoff Currier is a former Winnipeg broadcaster.
Have thoughts on what’s going on in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada or across the world? Send us a letter to the editor at wpgsun.letters@kleinmedia.ca
Article content
Share this article in your social network