Breaking news. Several ex-Presidents of the USA, President-elect, anyone who’s anything, known to anybody, Homer Simpson and even Elvis Presley are lining up to be injected with a Covid-19 vaccine in front of the world’s media. Why? Because it looks like it will satisfy anyone who is “not too sure” about how safe these vaccines are. Followers will be watching live and with bated breath to see if anyone changes colour, comes out in an almighty rash or even blows up.
How times have changed. It used to be that a king or queen would have their own taster to check if their food has been poisoned. Nowadays we want to see if our leaders can bring themselves to be our “tasters”. Call it democracy or the coming to fruition that the meek shall inherit the earth.
Now I’m not here to discuss the finer details of how brilliant scientists from all over the world have given humanity vaccines which pass muster with regulators whose primary purpose is to ensure people are not harmed by the concoctions of multinational corporations. The point being made is why so many of us would rather place their fate in some celebrity or other and what happens to them rather than career scientists who work out meticulously through incredibly well designed (and overseen) clinical trials which give regulators confidence for these medicines to be unleashed onto the general public.
Commenters said they wanted to see the Queen and Boris take it first. Well OK fine – I’m all for leadership being shown to engage the hearts and minds of mere mortals. But imagine presenting a study based on 2 people – assuming one will be on a placebo so actually a study of one – to any authority. I’d assume they would have to contain themselves out of professional propriety not to verbally show them the door.
The question we need to ask is why have we got ourselves into this bizarre situation. Why have we stopped trusting in science, knowledge, process and governance in favour of who happens to be the flavour of the month in the eyes of humanity? And that’s not taking into account conspiracy theorists who will still tell you that Barack Obama will only have been injected with water. Science and technology have made advances which are truly breathtaking. Yesterday’s science fiction has fast become today’s reality yet most of us only see the front end of this probably through a piece of plastic with a screen on it. Yet it appears that the vast majority of us have been left behind – not that we expect us all to have Doctorates in biotechnology or quantum physics but at the very least we need to acknowledge that there are valid processes around the world making incredibly complex things happen and which are closely monitored by regulators on our behalf.
What are we doing in schools with our future human beings to ensure a modicum of understanding as to what lies behind the content on their smartphone? How are we developing their critical thinking so they are in a better place to judge what may or may not be true? And what can we do to get over the fact that, in 2020, significant numbers of people choose to believe anything they hear from their beloved leaders which in turn forces such leaders to spout anything that may land well with their base?
As for me I’m now too long in the tooth and set in my ways. I will abandon any form of reasoning and sit in front of the news screen and “enjoy” the unfolding drama. Who knows – I may yet witness the spectacle of Boris Johnson exploding at the end of a needle.