He’s said he was drawn to his conspiracies “reluctantly.” His path is a warning.
Science, or any practice that relies on evidence, routinely includes “shifts” in what is seen as “truth.” John Maynard Keynes, questioned about why he had changed his views on an economic question, is famouslyRobert F. Kennedy Jr.’s answer was to double down on his beliefs. He continued to insist that vaccines were dangerous. To maintain his position, however, he had to insist that the evidence supporting vaccine effectiveness and safety was not only wrong but outright fraudulent.
In his judgment of the conflicting claims on vaccine safety, Kennedy was not a scientist, but a litigatorTo be a good scientist is to acknowledge uncertainty. “Truth” is never final, always about likelihoods and not about certainty. Conclusions and theories are always changing, constantly subject to challenge by other scientists. Debate among scientists with knowledge and expertise in the area of dispute takes place, mainly in the form of written articles.
This can be an enormous force for good when it comes to life-and-death matters: Science moves slowly, and scientists can be prone to clouding declarations with uncertainty. A steady and firm judgment call in the face of a mishmash of evidence can, at times, improve the well-being of communities. But even when Kennedy was using his legal skills to protect the environment, not everyone was comfortable with how far he took his version of the reality.
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