The medical infosphere has a pollution problem. Misinformation is becoming one of healthcare’s greatest public threats. We’ve seen this recently with COVID-19 and over the long run with vaccine advocacy.
But yelling back is unlikely to change minds.
Spend some time watching the sharpest vaccine advocates. Despite personal attacks they laser drop peer-reviewed information to counter outrageous claims. Some address the source by coordinated blocking and reporting. Others counter publicly in a controlled way but rarely debate. They value focused response over reaction. Because there is no debate over the importance and safety of vaccines. Name calling and manufactured outrage will never address the issue or change minds.
The solution to pollution isn’t more righteous pollution. It’s clean air.
Hard evidence speaks for itself. And carefully placed information at scale will always trump the name calling, shouting, and call-out that has come to contaminate medicine’s public conversation.
If you like The Solution to Pollution is Not More Pollution then you might like the 33 charts Vaccines Archives. It’s everything else written here on immunization and vaccination. Every 33c post has tags at the bottom of every post that will help steer you to related content. Check ‘em out and happy reading.
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