MARCH 11 — The anti-vaxxer movement has shaken the world and the consequences are dire. Children are dying. Plain and simple. In examining the root cause of such an intellectual disease, I take a moment to reflect on the fallacies of the human thought process.
Now, let it be clearly said that we are well within reason to stare agape in disbelief at the absolute lunacy of the anti-vaxxer movement. “Why are they be so stupid? The evidence is right there!” we cry, as we cite journal after journal, scientific paper after scientific paper. Yet, the anti-vaxxers seem more entrenched in their collective siege mentality, even though their castle sits on sand and their claims made of even less.
There must be logical blind spots, intellectual missteps and massive leaps of faith that have taken them from anecdotal evidence to a final, definitive and ignorant decree of “I will not vaccinate my children.” No one simply goes from initially learning what vaccines are to denouncing them outright within a rigid twitch of a child’s finger stiff from tetanus.
Therefore, more important than “Why are they so stupid?” it is imperative we ask, “How are they so stupid?” And in asking that question, I began to look at other contemporary beliefs, commonplace in modern times, yet similarly unfounded scientifically as the anti-vaccine doctrine.
In simpler terms, I ask, “What are other crazy beliefs deeply embedded in otherwise rational people?” or more sensationally perhaps, “Do pro-vaxxers also subscribe to other beliefs as stupid as not vaccinating children?”
This is of course, again, in no way endorsing or encouraging the anti-vaxxer movement. I am simply taking the opportunity to see if we can move towards expunging ALL unscientific beliefs for surely that way lies ultimate progress.
One needn’t to look far. Most Malaysians, anti-vaxxer or not, believe in the supernatural. Ghosts, spirits, demons, possessions, curses, hauntings, are all staple horror fare. Yet if one were to say to them that there has been no concrete evidence for the existence of say, ghosts, they’d be chastised to not be arrogant lest they provoke the evil spirits.
There has not been a single credible instance of a ghost sighting except for hoaxes, photoshopped photos, doctored videos and more often than not, sightings of unexplained natural phenomena. If something cannot be explained quickly, ah, it must be ghosts haunting us! We don’t know where the bump in the night came from, thus it must be a poltergeist!
“What has led otherwise rational people to believe that ghosts definitely exist” is almost the same question as “What has led otherwise loving parents to not want to prevent their children from getting deadly diseases?”
Then there are those who believe that the Earth is a mere 5,000 years old, despite scientific evidence to the contrary spanning decades, across multiple fields of study like geology, biology, chemistry, astrophysics, archaelogy, paleontology, etc, from institutions of learning populated by scientists of all cultural and sociopolitical backgrounds.
In the same camp are those who believe that evolution didn’t take place, that homo sapiens simply came to be, despite a large body of evidence clearly showing that Man descended from the apes.
No amount of evidence will budge them from their stubborn stance, just like how no amount of children contracting measles, a then near-eradicated disease now resurgent thanks to anti-vaxxers, can move anti-vaxxers from their position to a nearby clinic.
A lot of Chinese people believe that if you arrange your furniture in a certain fashion, you will be bestowed health and wealth thanks to your successful manipulation of the forces of chi. Nevermind that it has not been backed scientifically, nevermind that it sits firmly in the realm of charlatans and pseudoscience.
If you were to say to a feng-shui fan that no amount of interior decorating can possibly affect the ebb and flow of global economics, local politics and corporate shenanigans that ultimately have bigger effects on one’s careers, why, an anti-vaxxer might treat you with more kindess!
In fact, I’d argue that the positioning of your sofa affecting your career is more ludicrous than vaccines causing autism!
The list goes on and on.
The practice of confinement, where post-partum mothers are encouraged to stay at home, confined as they were, up to a month, sometimes not being allowed to wash their hair(!) is of utmost lunacy and yet is practised commonly. Nevermind that millions of mothers who don’t subscribe to confinement seem to carry on with their lives just fine.
Some people still believe that the date of their birth determines of which of the 12 (or is it 13 now?) star signs they are born under and thus rely on horoscopes as guidance for their weekly fortunes. One could point out that stars have no possible direct effect on us humans here, as they are located millions of light years away, but the horoscope fanatics won’t believe you. Especially those pesky Leos.
The reason why anti-vaxxers get the most attention today is because of the harm they cause. Voluntarily exposing your children to polio is far more dangerous than buying a trinket to ward off spirits. But the same problem remains, which is undeserved confidence in something not supported by evidence.
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Where evidence is scant despite us searching for it, as reasonable beings we must then be forced to accept the null hypothesis, and not grasp at straws to fit the narrative we desperately want to believe, for that is precisely how the anti-vaxxers are painting themselves in the corner.
The real trick is to convince people to embrace science and evidence and not just cherry pick blogs to suit the lies we tell ourselves. It’s great that you can clearly see that the anti-vaxxer movement is nonsense. Now why not throw away that feng shui almanac too?
The Earth is 4.3 billion years old, humans evolved from apes, post-partum women need not get confined, astrology is nonsense, fengshui is a billion dollar industry based on people’s willingness to be deluded, Elvis is dead, we have not been visited by aliens, Bigfoot doesn’t exist, the moon landing really happened, the Earth is not flat, there are no ghosts, spirits and demons save the ones we create ourselves, and vaccines work. The evidence is all there. Deal with it.
Of course no article discussing unscientific beliefs can ignore the grandaddy of them all, religion. Due to today’s climate of freedom of speech in this country, allow me to untruthfully declare that I have no opinion whatsoever on religion. Is there, as eloquently summarised by Carl Sagan, the renowned cosmologist, an omnipotent being who “sits in the sky and tallies the fall of every sparrow”?
Only God knows.
* Dr Jason Leong is a former doctor turned comedian and also an Aquarius. You can follow him on FB, IG and Twitter at @DrJasonLeong
** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
