I don't see the divisiveness stopping

When I was in high school back in the 20th century science was taught as a bunch of questions, you question things and you debate them and acknowledge that there are different view points, and weigh the merits and decide.  It seems that as more information becomes available it is not about the science and it is not about the debate it is about who is loudest and shutting anyone else down.

Earlier today I saw a friend share Neil deGrasse Tyson's post and it made me both sad and angry.  These posts are not helping anything.


Screen shot from Neil deGrasse Tyson's Public Facebook Page

In fact it is inhibiting discussions and causing people to dig into their positions.  Please remember that as we learn more it seems that both sides of the position are actively fear mongers, we had vocal 'authoritative voices' down play the risks, as well as overstate the risks. 

The funny thing is that science isn't set in stone so what we 'know' today may very well be proven wrong tomorrow, and then again it may stand up to longer scrutiny.  The other thing is we are humans, we have a certain degree of irrationality to us and it varies from person to person but it is there without a doubt. 

There are plenty of reasons to not get the vaccine, and quite frankly I don't think it is my place to tell anyone that their reason is valid or invalid, it is their body their choice, oh wait that only applies to women when they decide if they want to terminate a pregnancy.

Here are a few reasons a person many not want the vaccine either now or ever:

  • I will say this again as I said it in a previous post, you can very much believe in the science but not want the vaccine.  To put it in less polarizing terms, I believe in the science of space travel and the ISS but I do not want to do it, the thought process is very similar in my mind
  • Their doctor recommends that they don't get it
  • They have already had COVID-19
  • They are worried about unknown long term affects
  • They are uncomfortable with the ethics of using aborted fetal cells in testing and development
  • They are evaluating the information from different medical doctors to determine what is right for them

And let us remember that there are a fair number of people that don't feel the vaccine is right for them but are perfectly fine if others decide that they want it.  Last I checked we were a semi free society and were allowed to make our own medical decisions.

For me personally when someone comes at me hard and tries to force me to do something I do have to fight the knee-jerk reaction to do the opposite and when doing the opposite I tend to dig in even harder.  I see that happening a lot, this is not the way to win friends and influence people.

I really don't want to shame anyone for their choice about getting the vaccine or not getting it.  I also don't want people to assume that someone that doesn't want the vaccine is anti science.  The way I see it by definition we do not know what the long term affects (if any) the vaccine will have on people, and that is a legitimate reason to say either no, or not right now to the vaccine.  Just because it seems safe and is commonly used doesn't mean it really is safe, just think about medications that have been pulled because of new evidence with long term studies.

There is certainly enough anecdotal data to suggest that caution may be warranted and an individual may decide that the unknown risk of the vaccine is greater than their risk of the disease.  There is some concern about the vaccine interfering with mammograms and there is an unknown connection to women's periods. While nothing is proven I can certainly understand why some women may see this information and want to hit the pause button, something does appear to be happening but there is not enough information to determine if that something is good or bad.

So lets please have a little bit of grace and acceptance that different people have needs, which means we are all going to see the situation slightly differently.  We need to respect that some people will want the vaccine, some may not want the vaccine ever, and yes some may say maybe but not right now.  

We also have to understand that we are at different stages of our lives, some may be in the middle or end so for those people they may not see a risk in not knowing about possible long term affects, because the risks of potentially getting COVID-19 are are more dire.  

That also means that some people on the other side may understand their risks of not getting the vaccine fall into their risk tolerance and the unknown potential risks are too high for them.

I cannot tell you what is right for you, I for one am going to trust that individuals look at their risk tolerances, their medical history, and their ethics and decide.  I am pro individual here.  Get it if you want it, don't get it if that is what you want, but don't shame or belittle anyone.




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