Patreon Pack Q&A #2
Topic: Conspiracy Theories, Pseudoscience, and “Wellness,” Q: How do we combat misinformation and conspiracy theories that are expressed by our friends and family members? A: This question sends me straight back to when I found out that my youngest sister wasn’t going to get vaccinated because of the myth that it affects fertility. This was back in April, when I had already made my appointment for my first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. My reaction was not great. I remember jumping right into scrutinizing her choices, yelling at my mother for “taking her side,” and refusing to listen to science, and jumping straight into technical explanations of data and risk-benefit factors, along with trying to angrily educate my mother about how vaccines actually work. My mom and youngest sister live in a small rural town in Maine, and neither have higher than a high school education. While their level of formal education has absolutely nothing to do with how intelligent they are, they tend to follow the crowd of popular opinion within their community. They roll their eyes at me and my other sister for being “know-it-alls,” quite frequently, and don’t like to make a big deal about illness because they have a Puritainistic mentality around work ethic. We disagree a lot. I am also an incredibly passionate person who reads everything and likes to know as much as possible about all of the things *just in case*. My trauma response is often to do research and solve the problem or find the prognosis immediately. It’s terribly stressful and nerdy. I am a great teacher to everyone except members of my immediate family. I have the most amount of patience with everyone except for my mother and siblings. The whole conversation led to a rift which was not easily resolved (my sister still remains unvaccinated, and is now pregnant). But what I learned from it are two things:
Creating trust and reassuring the person you are in conversation with about vaccination is key. If we are unwilling to hear their reasoning, then we are alienating them and making them feel like they are stupid. That sucks. Asking questions is clutch; not in an intimidating, rapid-fire way, but from a place of genuine curiosity. It creates a bond and you get to learn something about that person--their interests, where they get their news, and their vulnerabilities. This is huge for the relationship. When your loved ones feel seen and heard without judgement, you become a safe place for them to go, and they are more likely to listen to you. Explaining your reasoning once you have given them the space to speak theirs shows them that you trust them--which strengthens their chances of hearing you out and using the factual information you passed on to them in their decision, rather than information spewed from random sources of misinformation. This is all that I do with vaccine hesitant individuals, now. I ask them questions, curiously, and I am understanding of their fears. Then I give them my own experience as a template, reassure them that I care for their health and wellness, ask them if they have any specific questions for me, or if they would like me to share my sources with them, and about 8/10 times they end up scheduling their vaccination appointment right then and there. I learned the hard way. Due to my steep learning curve, I am now much more mindful in my approach to speaking with those who are vaccine hesitant because of misinformation and conspiracy theories. Ultimately, hard conversations are worth the initial discomfort--especially if it means a life, or many lives, will be saved in the process. Q:What are some historical pseudoscience/guru/conspiracy theory situations that have been debunked in the past? A: As we learned last week, opposition to vaccination started out in puritanistic religious groups. When vaccination was mandated in England in the mid 19th century, it fueled riots and politicized the public health tool of vaccination against deadly diseases. False claims among these original anti-vax groups became the norm. Most recently, however, claims that MMR vaccines cause autism have spread far and wide. First starting in the UK, and spreading through parts of Western Europe and North America where vaccination rates among children dropped from 92% to as low as 60% in some areas during the early 2000’s. This was all fueled by a paper published by former doctor Andrew Wakefield via The Lancet in 1998--all of which was flawed and incorrect. He was later barred from practicing medicine in the UK, even after admitting the paper was “utterly false”. For many people who consider themselves “Freedom Fighters,” (AKA White Supremacists) this, along with other single issue voter topics like Pro-Gun and Pro-Life movements, have been grouped into the same circle to form alt-right Republican ideals which have grown ripe in our current political climate. Over the course of the past 5 years, specifically, they have bled into holistic white wellness and alternative health practices in the form of “coaching,” and MLM schemes, entrenched in the same methodology as purity culture, just wrapped in trendier packaging and proliferated through social media platforms like Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram. This has created a “choose your own adventure,” landscape in the time of COVID, as white people who lean more toward holistic health and reject westernized medicine intersect drastically with white people who practice, teach, and profit off of the yoga industry.
Q:How are people in the wellness/yoga space are financially profiting off of the counter narrative? A: Here is an NYT piece about the leader of the “disinformation dozen.” Check out my previous list in the glossary section of my first post to learn more names of the disinformation dozen, as well. I plan to include a full chapter on Christiane Northrup and her direct involvement in vaccine misinformation and pseudoscience as well as how both she and HAY HOUSE PUBLISHING continue to profit off of her published works and anti-vaxx rhetoric, specifically in this book (it is already being drafted and will be a feature for December!) Q: Are there good ways to teach and encourage critical thinking skills within the wellness/yoga world? A:There are, and to get to the root of it, I would like to introduce you all to my friend Julian Walker of the Conspirituality Podcast in this video. This will also be a prevalent chapter in this book. I plan to share the detailed outline of the entire book within the next few weeks. For now, I would like to emphasize what my friend Julian brought up: The best way to encourage critical thinking skills in yoga is to make sure yoga teachers are educated in ethical and philosophical yoga--not just asana (the physical practice of yoga). My essay that started this whole journey “Getting Vaxxed Was My Act of Ahimsa,” outlines the ethical and critical thinking tools which yoga emphasizes. Unfortunately, the Westernized Yoga Industry and the White Wellness Industry have fast-tracked yoga education and training programs, sacrificing the most crucial pillars of Yogic Philosophy and watering down methods of instruction into fast-paced, digestible workout alternatives for the cash cow of capitalism. Comments are closed.
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