Sadly, we seem to be living in a time when ignorance is not simply a reality of varying degrees of educational opportunity or lack of evidence and knowledge, but has been elevated by many to a virtue and celebrated as a badge of honour.
It is one thing to have people like Donald Trump running around operating in a fantasy world devoid of facts, evidence, reason or logic, but when those people enjoy the support of large swaths of the population and are on the verge of high elected office, it is beyond concerning and, in fact, downright scary.
There have always been cranks and conspiracy theorists, of course, but this feels different. Distrust of knowledge has gone mainstream. It feels like we are falling backward even as we are making enormous progress.
Where this widespread distrust of knowledge comes from is puzzling, but it stems, I think, at least in some way, from a misunderstanding of what science is.
It is important to recognize, science is not a subject to be studied in school; it is a systematic way of looking at the world and developing understanding of the processes of nature through reiterative observation and testing.
Unfortunately, this is not a natural way of looking at the world for human beings. Our imaginations are oft our greatest asset, but also our own worst enemy.
We have a compulsion to explain things, even when an explanation eludes us. In other words, a lot of the time we are simply making stuff up.
The classic example of this is, “I do not understand where I came from, therefore, God,” despite the fact there is precisely zero evidence for the existence of a supreme being. These leaps of logic are not simply a matter of personal opinion and faith, they are fraught with danger.
One issue that illustrates both the scientific process and the inherent distrust of it in a large number of people, and remains a personal concern of mine as I celebrate the announcement of my second grandchild is vaccines.
In the early 1990s, a statistical analysis suggesting a correlation between thimerosol and autism. Thimerosol is a preservative that was formerly used in vaccines to prevent bacterial contamination. That analyis turned out to be flawed, but fears persisted. Out of an abundance of caution, vaccine producers discontinued the use of thimerosol. It didn’t matter.
The problem was exacerbated when Andrew Wakefield, a British researcher published a paper that linked the MMR vaccine with autism. Not only was he wrong, it was later proved he had committed fraud. He was even stripped of his medical licence. It didn’t matter.
This particular fear has been debunked so thoroughly there can be no doubt there is no causal link between thimerosol and autism much less vaccines that do not contain it and autism and yet millions of people continue to refuse to vaccinate their children even as it endangers others.
Sadly, evidence, no matter how ironclad, is frequently no match for deep-seated beliefs, such as the idea that Trump might make a good president.
