Who should we trust: a reflection
Recently Lois and I watched the TV programme: ‘Where the Wild Men Are’, with Ben Fogle spending a week living with an Irish academic who had given up on technology; he did not use computers, let alone any form of Social Media. He spent hours each day with a lead pencil writing ‘longhand’ and was into his second book!
I became an academic in 1963 and for 20 years produced articles for publication in various journals.. I was an earth scientist and tried to convert data obtained from fieldwork and enlivened by ideas and the vision that I had, into the articles which were supposed to add to the understanding we – the scientific fraternity – had of the natural environment. These papers were all sent to assessors around the world and were only accepted for publication on their recommendation. Each year, chances of promotion depended on the number of ‘papers’ published and the status of the journals in which they appeared! ‘Publish or perish’ was the framework in which I and my colleagues operated.
The motives that drove me were promotion and money as well as a desire to increase knowledge. Much of what is published in general, reflects mixed motives. A question that needs to be asked is: ‘Who funds the research?’ If research and any resulting publication is funded by an organisation or company with a vested interest in the outcome, then the publication is untrustworthy. Publications funded by tobacco, oil or drug companies need to be treated with skepticism and great care. Even universities are not immune from this problem because they need to be funded!
So, in the battle for hearts and minds over the Covid 19 issue and whether or not to vaccinate, who do we trust?! On the one hand we have senior scientists appearing on our TV screens, all saying – it seems to me – that we should vaccinate to protect ourselves and our children; these voices – such as that of Professor Michael Baker – reassure us that the vaccine being offered here in New Zealand has been thoroughly tested and is safe. On the other hand is the anti-vaccination lobby which claims all sorts of things without evidence, such as ‘covid 19 is a hoax’ and ‘the vaccine causes heart attacks.’ This lobby – again it seems to me – is simply feeding on people’s fear and insecurity.
In a sense, this conflict is a legacy of President Trump who promoted ‘fake news’ and misinformation and who did little to combat the covid 19 outbreak in the United States. His other legacy is the more than 740,000 deaths from the virus in that country! In our country we have had 28 deaths.
Who do we trust? For me the answer is clear, we should trust the science, get vaccinated and get on with our lives!!
Rev Dr Bob Eyles
Worship Leader and retired minister