Emergency doc @Brown_Emergency
Director @BrownDigiHealthCo-founder @researchaffirm #ThisIsOurLane & @getusppeBoard
@NVIinstitute@CNN analyst 
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My undergrad major was the history of science: we learned how politics impacts data collection; power structures can silence truth; & science denialism isn't new.
Which is to say: This #covid19 moment isn't unique.
Take a journey thru history with me, towards hope:
/thread/
First: The theories of Copernicus, Galileo, and Kepler (placing the sun at the center of the universe) eventually resulted in Galileo's excommunication. And ps, Bruno (an early advocate of heliocentrism) was burned at the stake.http://origins.osu.edu/milestones/february-2016-400-years-ago-catholic-church-prohibited-copernicanism …
But Galileo is no longer excommunicated, and we all (almost) accept that the earth is not at the center.
Another one: When William Harvey discovered that blood actually CIRCULATES, it upended centuries of belief about how the body works, and was roundly decried.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15365594/
Until ... it wasn't. Scientist after scientist replicated the results. Good messengers shared the theory in terms that made sense to average people. Professionals saw the value in the theory. We all "know" that blood circulates through veins & arteries now.pic.twitter.com/4uvCgaDlXF
A third example: Ignaz Semmelweis' work on handwashing was dismissed for a century - because he challenged authority and the status quo.https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/01/12/375663920/the-doctor-who-championed-hand-washing-and-saved-women-s-lives …
It took the development of a new theory (germ theory) and a leader FROM the status quo (Lister) and sustained public health messaging to bring us to where we are todaypic.twitter.com/DxR6zDe0XK
[There have also been a nearly **overwhelming** number of instances in which power was used to unethically experiment on, or erase the voices of, the powerless: - Tuskegee - Henrietta Lacks - J Marion Sims' work - and so many more] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unethical_human_experimentation_in_the_United_States …
... The era of #COVID19 science denialism is, in some ways, unprecedented.
It is spreading more quickly, and with more authority, than many of the misinformation campaigns of the past.https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/14/opinion/coronavirus-research-misinformation.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage …
But!!!! Because misinformation and science denialism has been around for a while: WE HAVE WAYS TO FIX IT. And there are some *advantages* to this moment. HERE ARE SOME TIPS:
(1) Don't be silent. When you see mistruths, call them out (kindly). "Not responding to science deniers has a negative effect on attitudes towards behaviours favoured by science...& intentions to perform these behaviours."https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-019-0632-4 …
* I say "kindly", because if we call names, or if we repeat the misinformation, then it spreads: it's the phenenomenon of "illusory truths," as @drjessigold and I have describedhttps://time.com/5645747/gun-violence-mental-illness/ …
(And because it's essential to use FACTS when rebutting these mistruths.)pic.twitter.com/4XURITAkI3
(And ps, as much as I love preprints.... it's on ALL of us to constantly combat the hairbrained ones, quickly, in a public forum.)
(2) Understand that science is ALWAYS tied up with politics. Naivete puts us at a disadvantage. If we know that this is part of the game, we can be prepared.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2211368117300700 …
(3) We must also understand that science is more likely to be heard, if it is framed in terms that mesh with the listener's worldview. This is PR 101, but it bears repeating: people listen if what we say, feels comfortable to them.
Storytelling and empathy are effective , too.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.4161/hv.24828 …
(4) Unique to this moment, we absolutely can & must use technology more effectively. Twitter, Facebook, all the rest of it, is a tool for good.https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/12/21254960/facebook-ai-moderation-covid-19-coronavirus-hateful-memes-hate-speech …
(5) But old-school #publichealth messaging techniques also have a place.
NB: I'm not talking about shaming, here. I'm talking about creating norms, whether through memes or through behavior.
(eg #WearAMask
)
As @DrSherryPagoto has outlined so clearly, #4 (#socialmedia) & #5 (#publichealth) can and must intersect.https://www.jmir.org/2019/12/e16661/
(6) Most importantly, don't give up.
We've been through #climatechange denialism and #antivaxx baloney. Infowars and the horrifying untruths about #SandyHook "hoaxes".
And I personally have taken on denial of #gunviolence as a #publichealth problem.
And listen: we've made progress. Bc we haven't folded.
The denial of 86K deaths, the whitewashing of the events of the past 3 months, and the sheer lies about what science demonstrates about #COVID19 can be exhausting.
But they do not have to win.
And they won't win - unless we let them.
So keep at it, y'all. Keep tweeting and speaking facts. Keep telling stories. Keep BEING HONEST about what you see. Keep the conversation going.pic.twitter.com/Kt9gjkNhMB
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