The Left Also Has an Anti-Science Problem

Two years after COVID-19 upended the world, vaccine refuseniks continue to complicate efforts to bring the pandemic under control. In the U.S., the birthplace of the most effective COVID vaccines, a whopping 19 percent of people over the age of 5 have not received even an initial vaccine.

Although the never-vaxxer crowd is not a politically heterogeneous group, its adherents are united in their refusal to consider basic facts. This has invited tremendous derision from many (including me) who are baffled by their deliberate ignorance.

Some of us sitting comfortably on the side of science with the sapere aude enlightenment crowd, however, also harbor a few dearly held and completely untrue health beliefs. Like, lots of them. And these are not quaint superstitions such wearing a certain T-shirt to assure a World Series win, but some really dumb, you-aren’t-serious stuff.

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For example, believing that eating lots of blueberries will prevent cancer.

In the ever-expanding universe of commercialized vanity, the hodge-podge of “look great, feel great, be great, live forever, and remain great” products are mostly implausible, disproven, often costly, and occasionally dangerous. Fidelity to these beliefs is based on faith, not science—even among people motivated to “do their own research.” Googling is not science.

Consider the unlikely story of antioxidants—led by the admirable blueberry and the arriviste pomegranate—which many believe can prevent aging, cancer, hardening of the arteries, dementia, and on and on.

First of all, as a general rule, any remedy that claims to prevent or cure every damn bad thing on the planet likely prevents or cures nothing at all. And second, the atomic world of antioxidants, free radicals, and moving electrons from here to there to repair DNA damage is a complex snarl of chemistry—better suited to a university dissertation than as a breezy explanation of why your skin looks so good.

There are many clinical trials in humans that demonstrate, alas, no benefit from this approach to improving health. One large and influential trial demonstrated not only no utility against heart disease or cancer, but an increase in heart problems among those receiving vitamin E rather than placebo. Many additional trials have been conducted or are underway and are tracked by the federal government, including inquiries into the impact of antioxidants on stroke, heart disease, aging, and dementia.

And it is not just antioxidants.

Beloved and disproven “theories” for health maintenance cover much more territory than scarfing down industrial quantities of fresh fruits. For example, there is the persistent belief that taking vitamin C can prevent colds—even though it’s been disproven in study after study (though there is a role for vitamin C in shortening cold symptoms once the sniffles begin).

Then there’s the myth of acupuncture supposedly treating chronic low back pain. Here the evidence consistently shows effectiveness in immediate pain relief, but no utility for management of chronic discomfort.

There are several repositories for this type of scientific information examining popular treatments. An entire federal agency, the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health publishes new work regularly and also provides grant support for additional pursuit of the role of various non-Big Pharma approaches to health maintenance. Additionally, the venerable Cochrane Reviews compiles and analyzes all clinical trials addressing a specific health issue to derive a collective consensus. Many doctors turn to Cochrane when evidence from years of trials seems to point in opposing directions.

Still, many persist. It is comforting to think that more carrots or glasses of water can prevent illness and is, you know, harmless. So why not keep the faith! Facts (frequently) be damned!

To be sure, the parallels between anti-vaxxers and antioxidant enthusiasts, though real, do not equal comparable importance or derangement between the two groups. This is not a “both sides do it and therefore everyone is equally at fault” argument. There are vast differences—including both individual and public health consequences—to this “my body, my choice” approach to decision making.

An individual who refuses to be vaccinated against a deadly, easily transmissible virus might contribute to a death—his own or another person’s—whereas eating a lot of blueberries causes no discernible harm to anyone.

But more importantly, pursuit of more and better antioxidants and vitamins and superfoods affects no one in the neighborhood. In contrast, vaccine refusal has a large impact on others in the community—not just family and friends, but someone who is a friend of a friend’s roommate’s elderly grandmother. SARS-CoV-2 is an infectious disease requiring a community effort to control, the very concept of which is anathema to those who insist on prioritizing the individual above all else.

It is this overt and cold-hearted anti-communitarianism that galls so many people.

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Experts in human behavior have a name for humanity’s intermittent refusal to accept facts: “belief perseverance.” And, at least in studies done thus far regarding vaccine hesitancy, educating more and more can backfire and increase, rather than soften, resistance.

This makes a difficult problem even more difficult. Right now, we have two basic but irreconcilable facts. First, vaccination is necessary to control the pandemic. Second, trying to convince unwilling people to get vaccinated is ineffective. Yet, like those whose thinking is warped by belief perseverance, we continue to hope that maybe this time, we will tip the balance towards vaccine acceptance.

But, we won’t.

Which leads us once again to the solution of last resort: scare tactics, also referred to as fear appeals. For those mired in a universe of alternative facts, it is the only path forward.

Though harsh and unsettling, the facts are clear that the approach is effective. Even, I would imagine, for blueberry enthusiasts.

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