Siege Mentality
I tried to read this article in Wired about vaccines not causing autism but I had to put it down. It just reminded me too much of some kind of Rush Limbaugh screed against the "Liberal Elite." I've always considered myself a science guy - even though my experiences over the years have encouraged me to extend the scope of reason to include aspects of identity and consciousness which aren't ordinarily considered by contemporary science, I continue to employ skepticism and fearless truth-seeking in every area I can.
This article, which presents anti-vaccination activists as dangerous kooks leading peasants with torches is an example of the condescending attitude that seems to characterize more and more of scientific discourse in popular culture. It is certainly with good reason that people who grasp the extent to which ignorance, superstition, anti-scientific prejudice, and 'harmless' sentimentality have impeded and threatened progress throughout human history - we have every right and responsibility to confront misinformed opinions and dubious ideas, yet something seems to be missing in that critical faculty when it comes to people examining their own ego investments in certainty and authority.
The popular refrain these days seems to be that science is unfairly disrespected, that our canon of established knowledge is threatened by new, virulent form of stupidity which will have us turning back the clock to a chaos of pre-rational practices and beliefs. I can and do sympathize with this perspective but I fail to see how this situation leaves science itself off the hook. The fact is, that since it's high-water mark in the mid 20th century, science has degenerated from a universal, public policy-influencing authority of near unimpeachable integrity to a whiny, impotent vendor of legitimacy for various commercial enterprises.
Of course there is still good science going on, but the mere fact that the once sacrosanct opinion of science is now seen by many as suspect and compromised is an indication of the extent of the failure of modern science to understand itself and the society which it is a part of. In recent years the cornucopia of progress which marked the 20th century has seen a monumental backlash - quality of life has stagnated in real terms while the accumulation of problems associated with suburban life stands in stark contrast to the promise it once had. Networked computers, rather than being one of many vital new technologies which are of use to us, has become the sole heir to scientific progress - a consolation prize for a ruined society devoid of meaningful public resources and destinations.
Unfortunately, the specialization which was so successful in the last few centuries in pushing civilization forward has become, all too suddenly, a fatal flaw. Freed of the pre-industrial imperative to synthesize a coherent worldview, splintered subdisciplines of science vie for their share of academic resources and commercial attention, pulling ever further apart as if to weave a flimsy net through which the flood of unexamined information of our daily lives pours unimpeded. We don't know anything anymore but we think we know everything. Precisely the condition we sought to escape from in undertaking the scientific revolution in the first place.
So yeah, I think vaccinations are important, but I think that people are right to question what the risks are versus the benefits particularly for recently 'improved' treatments (more than just an article assuring us that 'a prestigious group did a study' that proved it's fine). I don't think we know enough about what constitutes a safe number or type of vaccinations to be able to say with such smug certainty that everyone needs to have all vaccinations regardless of how many new ones are manufactured. I donno, I think that what has been done to kids in the name of health and education has been a catastrophic mistake that keeps getting worse all the time...all under the watchful eye of scientific authorities.
When science finally figures out that it can't choose which problems to address and which ones to ignore, then it will be able to regain the social traction that it's lost. When it can embrace the totality of human existence rather than just the parts which satisfy narrow academic and commercial demands, then it will get the respect it seems to think it deserves from the unwashed masses beyond the reach of it's own echo chambers. Conventional wisdom is the new superstitious dogma which, although superficially seeks to oppose pre-rationality, actually works in partnership with it, setting up the enemy's straw man as it's own straw man - doubling down on failed principles while presenting medieval horrors as the only alternative.
This article, which presents anti-vaccination activists as dangerous kooks leading peasants with torches is an example of the condescending attitude that seems to characterize more and more of scientific discourse in popular culture. It is certainly with good reason that people who grasp the extent to which ignorance, superstition, anti-scientific prejudice, and 'harmless' sentimentality have impeded and threatened progress throughout human history - we have every right and responsibility to confront misinformed opinions and dubious ideas, yet something seems to be missing in that critical faculty when it comes to people examining their own ego investments in certainty and authority.
The popular refrain these days seems to be that science is unfairly disrespected, that our canon of established knowledge is threatened by new, virulent form of stupidity which will have us turning back the clock to a chaos of pre-rational practices and beliefs. I can and do sympathize with this perspective but I fail to see how this situation leaves science itself off the hook. The fact is, that since it's high-water mark in the mid 20th century, science has degenerated from a universal, public policy-influencing authority of near unimpeachable integrity to a whiny, impotent vendor of legitimacy for various commercial enterprises.
Of course there is still good science going on, but the mere fact that the once sacrosanct opinion of science is now seen by many as suspect and compromised is an indication of the extent of the failure of modern science to understand itself and the society which it is a part of. In recent years the cornucopia of progress which marked the 20th century has seen a monumental backlash - quality of life has stagnated in real terms while the accumulation of problems associated with suburban life stands in stark contrast to the promise it once had. Networked computers, rather than being one of many vital new technologies which are of use to us, has become the sole heir to scientific progress - a consolation prize for a ruined society devoid of meaningful public resources and destinations.
Unfortunately, the specialization which was so successful in the last few centuries in pushing civilization forward has become, all too suddenly, a fatal flaw. Freed of the pre-industrial imperative to synthesize a coherent worldview, splintered subdisciplines of science vie for their share of academic resources and commercial attention, pulling ever further apart as if to weave a flimsy net through which the flood of unexamined information of our daily lives pours unimpeded. We don't know anything anymore but we think we know everything. Precisely the condition we sought to escape from in undertaking the scientific revolution in the first place.
So yeah, I think vaccinations are important, but I think that people are right to question what the risks are versus the benefits particularly for recently 'improved' treatments (more than just an article assuring us that 'a prestigious group did a study' that proved it's fine). I don't think we know enough about what constitutes a safe number or type of vaccinations to be able to say with such smug certainty that everyone needs to have all vaccinations regardless of how many new ones are manufactured. I donno, I think that what has been done to kids in the name of health and education has been a catastrophic mistake that keeps getting worse all the time...all under the watchful eye of scientific authorities.
When science finally figures out that it can't choose which problems to address and which ones to ignore, then it will be able to regain the social traction that it's lost. When it can embrace the totality of human existence rather than just the parts which satisfy narrow academic and commercial demands, then it will get the respect it seems to think it deserves from the unwashed masses beyond the reach of it's own echo chambers. Conventional wisdom is the new superstitious dogma which, although superficially seeks to oppose pre-rationality, actually works in partnership with it, setting up the enemy's straw man as it's own straw man - doubling down on failed principles while presenting medieval horrors as the only alternative.