The Information Gap Or You Don't Have to Take Bad Faith Seriously

RFK Jr, measles’ favorite cabinet member, is apparently going to look into the connection between autism and vaccines. Let me short cut the anticipation for you: there is none. Going to go off on a bit of a tangent here, so you can rejoin the regular post after this paragraph. A lot of people will argue that I am just taking Big Pharma’s word for it. I am not. I have a family member who is autistic and I spent a lot of time researching the condition, causes, and treatments. And there is no evidence to suggest that vaccines are the cause. Just none. Anyone with a high school diploma can understand that. I am no fan of Big Pharma — I would tear the entire industry down if I could. But there is plenty of research from non-Pharma sources that all says the same thing: there is no link between autism and vaccines. Anyone pretending otherwise is lying to you.

The point of this post is not to rehash already debunked nonsense. It is rather to highlight the fact that we have both an information problem in this country and a too much respect problem. A former editor of JAMA has declared that it is good that RFK, Jr., polio’s favorite cabinet member, is having the non-existent link between autism and vaccine re-investigated. This act of propaganda is good, actually, he says, because a significant portion of the public does not believe the science. Scientists, he says, have to do better, not rely on their position as experts to argue for them, and anything that helps the public overcome their doubts is good. And I honestly have no idea where to start with this nonsense.

Maybe let’s start with the idea that RFK,Jr., small pox’s favorite cabinet member, is going to do an honest evaluation is not entirely believable. This is a man who helped kill children in Samoa with his anti-vaccine bullshit and then lied about it to Congress. The man thinks cod oil is a cure for measles, for God’s sake. He has made a career out of being anti-vaccinations. In what universe are the people he appoints to this study going to be fair and honest? I mean, I would offer to sell anyone who believed that the Brooklyn Bridge but I would feel bad about taking money from such obviously intellectually disabled people. And they probably couldn’t even find the Brooklyn Bridge and complain to me about it not being in Jersey, like they thought it should and who needs that hassle in their life?

Or maybe let’s start with the false notion that the vaccine-autism battle has been fought by scientists coming out and saying “Haha! I am a scientist and I say that there is no link! Research?! No! Not for you peons! It is only fit for SCIENTISTS!!! The rest of you unworthy, unwashed, illeterates will just have to take our word for it! Hahaha! SCIENCE!!!!!” Other than the fact that scientists do tend to talk in exclamation points, this is entirely bullshit. For those of you who did not read the little tangent at the top, it is easy to find research and normal language explainers for the research that debunks the false idea that there is a link between autism and vaccines. Scientists out their research out into the public and spent a lot of time, effort, ink and pixels to explain what they found. The ideas that scientists as a group are not trying to communicate effectively is silly at best, disingenuous nonsense at worst.

Or maybe let’s start with the idea that this will do anything to settle the issues. Let’s assume for the sake of argument that the review will be honest and released without interference or edit from RFK Jr., diphtheria’s favorite cabinet member. Why would anyone think that would change anyone’s mind? Just because it came from RFK Jr., chickenpox’s favorite cabinet member? I doubt that,. The belief is no longer rational, if it ever was. On the edges, maybe, but it will not have any serious impact. All of the same information issues — death of local news sources, rise of right wing propaganda in its place, social media algorithms that prioritize emotion fueled engagement over the truth — will still exist. This will merely be one ore report to add to the hundreds of others. In this information environment, it is hard to think any of that will change.

RFK Jr, rubella’s favorite cabinet member, is not acting in good faith. People need to stop treating bad faith actors as if they are acting in good faith. We have an entire media apparatus dedicated to spreading bullshit. Pretending that bad faith actors are in fact, good faith actors, is not helpful. The ultimate solution lies in correcting the broken media environment. But until that day people should simply point out all the studies that show no vaccine-autism connection and then point out that RFK Jr., mumps’ favorite cabinet member, has a history of lying about vaccines and that his lies did, in fact, contribute to several deaths in Samoa.

Anything other than that is simply treating bad faith as it is good. And that is a sure fire route to the defeat of good faith.