I was recently discussing vaccine recommendations with a
parent and it went something like this:
Me: “I see she hasn’t had any vaccines. Can we get some
started today?”
Parent: “We don’t like the ingredients in the vaccines.”
Me: “Which ingredients?”
Parent: “Mercury.”
Me: “Okay that’s fine because there is no mercury in any of
the immunizations we would recommend giving today.”
Parent: “Well we don’t believe in vaccines.”
I found this confusing. Vaccines aren’t something to “believe
in.” I am still not sure what that even means. I wouldn’t tell my mechanic that
I believe or don’t believe in rotating my tires. I may ask pros and cons, how
much it costs, etc. to learn more about it and help me make an informed
decision, but it is not a matter of faith.
Maybe I am just turning into a grumpy old man but it seems
that as a society we are losing the ability to differentiate between what we
know and what we believe. When the evidence showed that the nasal flu vaccine
was not effective, we didn’t cling to some kind of belief in it and keep giving
it anyway. We stopped using it. It was the same when the initial Rotavirus
vaccine showed a small, but real, increase in the incidence of an intestinal
blockage known as intussusception. We stopped giving it.
There is nothing wrong with believing things. There are
things that I believe but cannot prove but I am up front with folks about what
I believe to be true and what I know to be true and the difference between the
two.
But when one equates believing something with knowing
something, it shuts down all discussion and opportunity to learn something new.
I have learned a lot of new things through the years by listening to different
perspectives and being open to new evidence. If I had not been willing to consider
that what I believed was not true, I would have missed out on a lot of
interesting, important, exciting, life-giving knowledge. Of course, I have also
learned some things along the way that I wish I didn’t know, although knowing
them makes me a better person.
So believe what you believe, but be open to the possibility
that you may be wrong and willing to change your mind if that is where the
evidence leads.
