There is an article that I suggest ought to be read as widely as possible. Underneath the anti-vaxxer exterior lies much scientific misinformation, compounded by phobias, conspiracy theories, and general hubris that views those who take science and medicine to be areas of substantive, relevant knowledge and practice not just with suspicion, but with contempt. Or, as I was recently told, as “sheeple” who uncritically just accept whatever “big science” and “big medicine” are selling.

To wit, a few quotes from the anti-vaxxer “side” (anonymized to protect the sources):

Because there is no way that they can accept that their most dearly-held beliefs are just that. That germs are real. That disease is real. That they are not ultimately and completely in charge of their health. And that they are not immune to…anything…just by virtue of thinking and wishing that they are.

But often, arguing with people in the anti-vaxxer echo-chamber is a bit like talking to members of the Flat Earth Society. They absolutely need something to be the case — forget the evidence. They seem to truly believe that they, and those who think like them, are in possession of a central and fundamental truth not just about human biology, but about the nature of medicine, healing, and of health itself that is absolute and irrefutable — if only “big science,” “big medicine,” and “big pharma,” along with the media and all those gullible masses who swallow the propaganda, would step aside and let the secret knowledge shine through. This very personal desire to see themselves as possessors of a special, hidden truth — the kind to which only those who are clever enough not to be fooled have access — tends to override any arguments, reasons, evidence, sense itself.

No doubt this makes for a personally-compelling and gratifying story.

To the anti-vaxxer/anti-science community: You love to point to “big science’s” mistakes, its missteps, the bad acts of individual scientists and physicians, some of the awful history of medical trials, as well as ongoing puzzles, unknowns, and findings that are not “100% certain.” But that’s just it, isn’t it? That is exactly where you demonstrate the extent to which you neither understand what modern, peer-reviewed biomedicine is, nor grasp that centuries of trial-and-error still appropriately leave us with further unanswered questions because that is just how science works: trial and error, hypotheses, reproducibility and repeatability, outcomes that are more likely or less likely — or, in the case of the effectiveness of vaccines, for example, very likely. And when something does not work, the good kind of science admits it, steps back, and re-considers. Because it is grounded in evidence, and not in fervently-held beliefs about some “fundamental”, yet fundamentally unprovable, truths. Because it gives us the ability to prove our findings to others via empirical evidence, and not through a clever youtube video or snarky webpage. Because it requires from us the humility to say “I was wrong”…but also the ability to say “I was right.” And to demonstrate why.

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But what about the profit incentive, you might ask? What about big pharma, big medicine, and all of the billions of dollars that they are after — is that not their main motivation? The honest answer is yes — the for-profit incentive has clouded biomedicine much too often, and is an ongoing struggle in which many of us engage. But here is the thing: Some bad incentives do not invalidate years of successful (repeated, with continuous records of proven outcomes) research, trials, and treatments. Just like some underperforming (or even just really bad) school teachers invalidate neither all the great teachers nor the importance of public education — and just like some bad (or badly-motivated) doctors do not negate the necessity and skills of so many others.

Yet it seems to me that the worry of so many in the anti-vaxxer/anti-science community about the “unclean hands” of “greedy” modern biomedicine is either disingenuous or else fundamentally ignorant of that which they claim to support. Since so many of them cling to homeopathy/alternative medicine, we should consider what it really is. Scientifically, homeopathy’s principles have been refuted by chemistry, physics, pharmacology, and epidemiology (among others). And yet its market will reach almost sixteen billion dollars by 2024. Thus these “alternatives” to peer-reviewed medicine are not the equivalent of some groovy hippie handing out free healing powder to help those wronged by big pharma and its agents — this is an industry that is in competition with peer-reviewed medicine, that is not populated by physicians (or really, by people who “buy into” science), that is largely unregulated, and that wants to make money. Lots of it.

So stop it. Just stop it. Anecdotes are not data. Peer-reviewed research is not inferior to even very strong feelings. Astrology is not astronomy. And medicine, as imperfect and as trial-and-error as it can sometimes be — being a human endeavor, after all — has a track record that no amount of stories, suspicions, and websites can honestly challenge. You can have your beliefs, your fears, your worries. We all do. But please do not pass them off as an alternative to actual research, treatment, and outcomes.

To those of us in biomedicine, academia, and related disciplines: ignoring these arguments and groups is no longer sufficient — not just because infectious disease is coming back while (and unsurprisingly) an increasing number of people are refusing to vaccinate themselves and their children, but because, like it or not, we find ourselves in a Trumpian, trollable, deep fake-able, “post-truth” society. Lies, repeated over and over, and echoing through social media, television, on the street, as well as person-to-person, take their toll. Those of us in biomedicine, in academia, in other fields that grant access and participation in these “debates” — we have to speak up. Now. And often. In any way that we think might be most effective (which means not just in academic journals, available to only a few).

And, unlike so much right now, this is not a left/right political cause, with sides clearly drawn. These anti-vaxxer/anti-science/anti-reason movements can be found on both the left and the right. You can hear this rhetoric as often in a gathering of end-of-the-world Alex Jones-inspired preppers as well as at a Brooklyn, Portland, or San Francisco food co-op. Ignorance and magical thinking do not have a political affiliation.

The kinds of conversations that I have been having lately deeply worry me. I am planning several publicly-accessible projects in response. Please consider doing the same.