Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

“Excuse me, why are you doing that?”

Our behavior depends on so many variables that it’s mind-boggling to think we’ll ever get a grasp of why people do the things they do. The mystery of what influences how we act has spawned entire areas of study to analyze, predict, direct, anticipate, and respond to what has governed our success as a species: our behavior.  Human activity also has – frighteningly – become an out-of-control and destructive force, and one ramification is for the earth to become uninhabitable due to climate change.

I’m starting a blog to discuss and explore the complexities of behavior, particularly highlighting the knowledge/belief aspect. As a scientist, I have become fascinated with how reasoning only partially impacts our actions. In particular, as an immunologist, I have always celebrated the fact that this fairly new branch of science, the study of the immune system, has so successfully impacted population health. How can one argue with the ELIMINATION of small pox, which was once the scourge of the world?! Yet, despite this epic success story, the idea of vaccines has been vilified to the point that diseases that had been successfully controlled by childhood vaccinations are now making a comeback. Children are dying because of misinformation. But it’s more than that: providing facts do not sway the deep-seated belief of anti-vaxxers that vaccines are inherently harmful. The emotional component of belief, along with a social coherency thread, entwine to unbalance what should be a simple, rational, decision-making process.

I am perplexed and fascinated, frustrated and intrigued. What makes people decide how to act on something as fundamentally personal as their own (or their childrens’) healthcare choices? Why do the risks outweigh the benefits on a belief level but not on a rational level?

I plan to grapple with this issue by investigating different perspectives, such as those from doctors, health scientists, psychologists, sociologists, philosophers, economists, theologians, policy analysts, pharmaceutical executives, politicians, celebrities, ethicists, religious leaders and others to unravel human medical decision-making processes. The focus, or at least the initial intent, will be to promote a self-honing decision-tree for increasing positive healthcare decision-making at a personal level. If we can answer the question “Why are you doing that?” perhaps we can understand how to wrest the medical decision-making process from emotional influences such as third-party anecdotes, family pressures, social-media trends, mass-marketing, community constraints, religious overtones, and overlying power issues.

Let’s delve into the Science of Reasoning, starting at the individual level. To that aim, I want to begin with a history of vaccines, followed by how the modern anti-vaxxer movement took off.