Are you being OBJECTIVE when you say you're "Someone Who Listens to SCIENCE?"

One day, I decided to do a Google search for: "Why do we believe what we believe?"

A lot of things came up, but I felt that this snippet from Psychology today was pretty accurate:

We believe. When we believe, then, we are exercising our power to name and bring into being a world we love that loves us. And by exercising this capacity, we stir in ourselves the feelings of vitality, direction, and belonging that our desire for spirit seeks as the condition for our ongoing well being.Jun 1, 2010

Why We Believe What We Believe | Psychology Today

Why do you believe what you believe? Where are you getting your information from? Do you question what you read?  And how many times do you question what you read? Are you willing to look at all your information objectively?  If not, it could be costing you (and the people around you) more than you realize.  

There are a lot of people out there who have been saying Trump needs to "listen to science" and "We need to trust science" - when it comes to COVID-19.  I completely agree that listening to science is a smart thing to do. However, if you make this statement without looking at ALL science, especially the science from Countries that are doing a FAR better job of kicking COVID's ass, than we are in the U.S., - then you are NOT being objective, and making your decisions with BIAS.

They say it can be very dangerous to have just a little bit of information, and in my job I really find that to be true (and sadly, it seems to be the norm for the majority of people who claim to believe in science). There are a lot of "assumptive scientists" out there, who believe that just because they've looked at SOME science out there, then they already know everything they need to know. But that's like being a juror who's only willing to look at ONE piece of evidence (just the part they want to look at). 

So many people like to think of themselves as scientifically knowledgeable, but they're only willing to look at the science that's coming out of their own country, their own newspapers, and their own TV sets.... even if it's just the tip of the iceberg of what's out there. And even if that science is flawed. Studies get changed and altered quite a bit, because large corporations have the money to pay people who produce studies. 

This is not a conspiracy theory.  There's lots of clear evidence to back it up. I'm making a separate post about how Science is Flawed.  Information gets buried and hidden all the time, because the fact is... MONEY TALKS, and we live in a culture that continues us to allow us to believe what we believe, because it's what some corporation or entity wants us to believe.

Looking ONLY at "Popular Science" or the science you believe to be true, simply because that's what you're seeing over and over again in the media, doesn't make it true. 

Wouldn't this sound absurd, to you?

Let me ask you a question. If the United States had almost NO deaths from COVID-19, but Japan had a 10% death rate from the disease, what would you say if someone told you we should be using the same treatment methods that they are? You'd think they were nuts, right? Why in the world would you want to use a method that clearly isn't working?

Sadly, if you simply look at the data, you'll see, the scenario I mentioned above is, in reality, the exact opposite....The United States that has a system that is failing, and Japan has one of the lowest death rates in the world (and death rates in other countries - especially southeast Asia, are VERY low compared to ours). Can you imagine how people from other countries must feel about the United States, when they look at our death rate? We have the worst COVID numbers in the world, bar none, and yet, we Americans walk around with this superior attitude like we're the best, smartest nation in the world, and everyone should be copying what we do! 

I really enjoy listening to Neil DeGrasse Tyson - he reminds me a lot of my old boss, Bill, who was the smartest boss I'd ever had.  I wanted to post Neil DeGrasse Tyson's Masterclass preview video where he talks about Confirmation Bias - because I think most people (myself included) can be guilty of using confirmation bias, without even realizing it. It's very easy to use confirmation bias, and not even realize you're doing it.

In the preview for his masterclass, he says: 

"A proper skeptic questions what they're unsure of, but recognizes when valid evidence is presented to change their mind."

"The less connected you are to what is objectively true, the less likely you will be able to make decisions that will benefit your life. Your life, the life of your family, and even civilization itself."

My favorite part is when he says:

"We all have susceptibility to bias. Search engines on the internet are the epitome of confirmation bias. And you're going to use that as evidence, that you are correct?  Noooooooo."

Even though it's pretty obvious Neil DeGrasse Tyson is extremely smart, I do feel like I should point out that I saw a video of him on Stephen Colbert's show, where he says (referring to COVID-19), "Will people listen to scientists?"  The audience cheers, and I can't help wondering if that is a partial dig at Trump, because he and Dr. Fauci don't see eye to eye (I have to admit I do have some concerns of my own, about Dr. Fauci). Neil DeGrasse Tyson's comments may also be a nod to how Trump hasn't been the best about wearing a mask. 

To be clear, I DO think it's important for all of us to be wearing masks when we're out in public, because it is known to keep the virus from spreading in the air, to a large degree. I do believe we wouldn't have had as many deaths (not NEARLY as many) if everyone had just worn a mask from the minute we found out about this virus. If we'd copied how they're doing things in countries with very low infection rates (like Taiwan or Japan), our death rate could be 90% less than what it is. 

But I believe Neil Degrasse Tyson's quote / question, asking if people will listen to scientists, is wide open for misinterpretation... and I believe even he would admit this. To state, "Will people listen to scientists" leaves out a KEY question that needs to be asked: What scientists are we talking about? Which scientists, from which country, should we be listening to? 

If you go to Google Scholar and PubMed, you'll find scientific studies from all over the world....  not just the United States. And thank God for that, because if there were such a thing as the Health Olympics, and COVID-19 was a Sport... the United States would be DEAD LAST.  

In the way gymnasts, ice skaters and dancers get their scores based on several factors, one of the factors we need to consider for the U.S. is, how much money do we have, vs. other countries with a high death rate... but they don't have anywhere near as much money as we do. In my opinion, we have no excuse for having a death rate as high as it is.

If you really want to be healthy, you need to look at health objectively, from a Global Standpoint, not just an American Standpoint. If you did not live in the United States, there's a good chance you'd look at America's sky-high death rate and think, what's wrong with their healthcare system?  Aside from what Trump seems to believe, we are NOT doing better than other countries. 

Based on the media's coverage of the pandemic, it would be easy to assume the entire reason we're in this mess is because of Trump. Again, I am not a huge fan of Trump, but I also believe our death rate could easily, still have been one of the highest in the world, even if he was not our president.  I personally believe there's a good chance it would have been lower, if someone else was president, but based on the treatment methhods that have been used in hospitals, it still would have been high. 

I'm not talking about us being last simply based on how many deaths we've had. I feel like, we have NO excuse, given how much money we have in this country. As a leading industrialized nation, we have NO EXCUSE for having this many deaths. I wouldn't say I am Trump's biggest fan, but I know we can't just keep on blaming the president. It's our entire Medical system that's gotten us into trouble. 

There seems to be an assumption that we should all be listening to Dr. Fauci and the W.H.O., but we also have to ask ourselves, could there be any chance that the 

"There's a huge cost if a scientist is somehow meddling with their data, becasue they have an idea of what they want their data to show.  It comes at a huge cost to their career, but even if they think they can get away with it, somebody else will ultimately find it.  And if they show that it's wrong, that we don't have any result at all, everybody's back to the drawing board."

Sadly, there are countless cases of scientists changing their data to go along with a certain narrative, either because they were paid, pressured or threatened. 15 years ago, I had no idea this kind of thing could or would take place, but now I've seen enough cases where it's obvious - this happens a LOT. 

Just today, I was re-watching this video about Hexavalent Chromium and how toxic it is. It shows just one of many cases where a scientist actually changed their data in a way that was dishonest and misleading, but people would never have known about this, unless they learned the data had been changed, from, say, a documentary like this. If you click the lay button, it will take you straight to the part about the scientist changing the data, but I recommend watching the whole video if you have time, because it shows more examples of corruption. 

"If we all pay attention to what scientists say, maybe the Coronavirus will just .... blow on by."

 My favorite quote by Neil Degrasse Tyson is:

"Nature is the Ultimate Judge, Jury, and Executioner of what is True." 

AMEN. 

Sadly, however, I think there is a difference between NATURE and "Science," because what we perceive as Scientific Truth is: What we've heard in the news, over and over again. Because we saw it on the news, that some Doctor or Scientist has debunked something, we readily accept it as FACT that requires NO further research.  It's very easy to have the perception that what we keep hearing, over and over again, in the mainstream media (which is largely backed by the Pharmaceutical Industry), is what must be true. 

What people tend to think of as "True" tends to be the message they've heard over and over again, like a record scratching deep grooves into the brain that can't be erased. 

I keep hearing about how the dangers of vaccines have been "debunked by scientists." But a lot of people hear that and assume it must have been a skeptic or scientist who did that "debunking" - when they don't actually seem to know or care who did the debunking, and exactly what did that research entail?  How thorough was it? What scientists did the reporting? Could they have been paid by a large corporate entity? Because it's happened before!

Misaligned Incentives Hurt Science, but We Can Fix Them | Metascience Forum 2020

This is a great example of how we may not have the full story when we hear something.  Ask yourself the question.... if this girl didn't come forward with her account of this story, wouldn't you readily believe that the guy training her had lots of credibility, and must be using a system that worked?

Also, don't assume that just because you read something in the New York Times, or any other magazine that you think must be 100% credible, that everything you are reading is true. Listen to this woman talk about how the New York Times published a story about the training she was going through... but according to her, that's not what was really happening.  When you read a story, that is an account of what really happened, and it is always, ultimately, up to YOU to decide what the real truth is. 

The Credibility Gap: How Sexism Shapes Human Knowledge | Soraya Chemaly | TEDxBarcelonaWomen