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Jacqueline Stewart's avatar

The resistance to medical treatment, like vaccines, based on the suspicion that they may have been tested on a population that did not include minorities, is not anti science. It is unfortunately a rational suspicion. However, the resistance to vaccines based on an argument of individual liberty is entirely different; it misses the point that vaccines work when we think of the common good, not individual liberty. I have seen the "science is real" signs, and your examination of the sentiment is thought provoking. I think behind that sign is the frustration that so many people bought the ivermectin/ injected bleach nonsense, that public health officials were maligned for doing the best they could with limited evidence, that science and scientists were under attack, that belief and opinion were often treated as equivalent to fact and evidence. Science works, not perfectly and not every time, but it is not about how you feel, or what you want to believe, and, practiced competently, it moves us closer to facts, to truths. So, after considering, I still say "Science is real", not looking to insult anyone, or deny their fears, feelings and beliefs, and not claiming science alone can solve all problems. But it is an indispensable tool.

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