What Has La Brea Tar Pits To Do With Herd Immunity?
I have had some interesting discussions with friends and acquaintances who have refused their vaccinations....
My Dear Friends -
I have had some interesting discussions with friends and acquaintances who have refused vaccinations. Now we all know how ridiculously judgmental I can be… not all the time, but enough of the time to make these discussions, in polite terms, volatile. The reasons against Covid-19 vaccination run the gambit from “not enough time” to “prove the efficacy of the drug” to “political chicanery” from all parties, including current and former Presidents as well as everyone in the House and the Senate, ad infinitum.
Now, I shall acknowledge the use and abuse of both parties to politicize the vaccinations. Science has always had difficulties with the powers that be. Religion and science have made nice over the centuries. They are still suspicious of each other but my take, at least in the United States, is that slowly, very slowly, religion has begun to take its proper place in the pantheon of life as a support system for individuals… part of the four freedoms… freedom of worship. My belief is that this freedom will allow Science and Religion to co-inhabit the world. Imagine that!!
Over the past pandemic year in isolation I have been keeping good company with myself. Herein lies a recent conversation I've had with me:
What is behind the rejection of vaccination? FEAR!!
Duh!!! So tell us something we don’t know????
OK, I’ll try.
I’m stumped.
Go to Google.
Again?
Yes, again!
Oh, this is good… it’s almost as though Google knew what I was thinking.
That’s what they are paid for.
Listen to this quote from Bertrand Russell.
Who?
British Philosopher (1872-1970)
Right!
“Collective fear stimulates herd instinct and tends to produce ferocity towards those who are not regarded as members of the herd.”
Yeah, soooooo….
So this Covid Pandemic has frightened all of us... some to death, some to illness, some to lockdown, some to boredom, some to anger, most to confusion and paralysis.
Wow! Puts me in mind of the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles.
Excuse me?
The Tar Pits outside of Hancock Park. Over many centuries, the tar pits preserved the bones of trapped animals.
Excuse me?
Here’s the story! Back thousands of years ago there was an approaching climate change. Over the centuries there were many climate changes. You know like another Ice Age or heat wave or drought… there weren’t too many deniers of climate change back then because there weren’t that many humans and there were no political parties. However, most of the animals and the few humans had very sharpened animal instincts. The largest of which was survival. Survival and fear go hand in hand. So picture the dinosaurs chomping away on trees and grass (yes most of them were vegetarians) and as the weather changed, their survival/fear instinct was aroused. Now they loved L.A. but those who followed their instincts left Hancock Park and moved north to where they found safety for many millenniums along with evolutionary changes.
Today you can see the remnants of those who ignored their survival/fear instincts and became trapped in the ooze of the La Brea Tar Pits.
What has that got to do with anything?
Sometimes talking to myself is so difficult. Do I have to spell everything out for you?
Please…
It’s called species adaptation. Species that adapt to changes survive. Species that don’t… don’t!
Yeah? So what?
Don’t you see. We have two herds. We have the Vaccine Herd Immunizers or the VHI. We have the No Vaccine Herd Immunizers or the NVHI. Both herds fear Covid. However, once the scientists and the FDA approved the vaccines, the VHI team lined up, pushed ahead and did whatever to get their shot. They moved. They adapted. Yes, into the unknown but for them the known was death and illness and no hugs.
The NVHI are waiting and thinking. Not adapting. Still chomping on leaves and grass.
La Brea Tar Pits… now do you get it?
Not to worry. I am donating my brain to Science.
All, to say my dear ones, I’m not telling you what to do, God Forbid, when have I ever done that?
If you want to survive to fear again…
Pick the right Herd!
Love, Sally-Jane
P.S. A lesson in LIFE for Pro and Anti vaxxers... please stream the very brilliant and moving PBS American Masters biography of Oliver Sacks.
As Auntie Mame so eloquently said: “ Life is a banquet. And most poor suckers are starving to death.”
