Do you know what phrase I wish would have been used more frequently at the start of the Covid-19 era?
I. Don’t. Know.
I don’t mean I don’t know what phrase I wish would have been used more frequently, I mean the phrase “I don’t know” is the phrase I wish would have been used more frequently.
Covid-19 was such a complex and mysterious entity when the public first became aware of it, both in terms of what it was, and more importantly how it was presented in the media, that everyone just wanted answers.
And rightfully so. With all the emotionally charged and fear invoking narratives the media immediately ran with concerning Covid, it makes sense that people wanted their questions answered. Where did it come from? How did it get here? Am I in danger? Are my children in danger? How can we stop the spread? Can we stop the spread? What on earth should we do?
All reasonable questions, and all deserving of answers.
But there was a problem.
The pressure to deliver the answers to these questions was so great, and the desire to appear educated and in control of the situation so strong, that even alleged experts forgot or willingly refused to acknowledge one crucial fact:
They didn’t know.
I’ve said before on this site that we will never know exactly what Covid-19 was, or how dangerous it was, or whether the choices we made concerning it were correct, because people have already adamantly made up their minds about these issues and will never change them. At this point, people would rather BE right in regards to Covid than DO what is right for our society in regards to Covid. This is a major problem itself, but just as big of an issue is how we got here:
By people refusing to say, “I don’t know.”
Are you familiar with the term “medical expert” yet? Have you heard that phrase at all over the last year and a half? I’ve heard it. But like many widely cast word nets, “medical expert” starts to lose its meaning when it’s never actually defined.
Just who are these experts? Why are they experts? Are they doctors? If so, are they regular, general doctors or are they doctors who study communicable diseases specifically? Maybe they aren’t doctors at all. Maybe they are scientists. Maybe they are those people who look at stuff under microscopes or mix green liquids in beakers. That’s a joke to some degree, but I’m not joking when I say it’s tough to know exactly what makes someone an “expert” when it comes to Covid-19.
I certainly don’t know the answer, and at the onset of Covid, it’s clear the media didn’t either. The second Covid-19 hit the airwaves every media outlet from CNN to Fox to Bill’s Backyard Newscast was citing “expert medical opinions.” Every doctor, herbalist, immunologist, medicine man, and shaman was booked for an interview to give an “expert opinion” on Covid-19.
Worse than that, often times these “experts” didn’t seem to agree. On anything.
WHO was arguing with the CDC. American Doctors were arguing with European Doctors. Fox News’ on call “medical professional” was disagreeing with MSNBC’s on call “medical professional.” They all had big opinions and they all were more than willing to shout those opinions from the rooftops. Sides were taken, discussions grew heated, friends became enemies, enemies became friends, and at the end of the day, there were just a lot of confused people wondering what on earth was going on.
And do you know what one phrase went virtually unspoken by any and all of these media medical experts?
I. Don’t. Know.
It’s a freeing statement really. And despite what some people will tell you, it’s a completely okay position to be in and to state, even as an alleged expert. More importantly, it’s a phrase which could have saved us a lot of confusion and political side-taking concerning Covid-19.
You see, people like to take strong opinions. They like to feel like they know what they believe and why they believe it, even if they really don’t.
So when Covid-19 hit, and everybody and their brother started spouting “expert opinions” about it as if those opinions were ironclad, what did the people without opinions feel the need to do? I mean, what else could they do? They ran out to get one dagummit!
They tuned in to their favorite news station or Podcast or YouTube channel and listened to what was being said about the issue, and then they developed their ideas based on what they heard. 48 hours later they were on Twitter giving dissertations on the subject, totally confident that their evaluation of the subject was irrevocably perfect.
To make matters worse, Covid-19 wasn’t just a topic that people felt they had to have an opinion on. Oh no. It was worse than that. It was a massively controversial topic whose dispute ultimately dissolved itself into two polar opposite sides fighting against each other to the bitter end, neither willing to give even one inch, both fully prepared to remain eternally locked in a never ending war until the end of the age, forever and ever, Amen.
It was me versus you. Us versus them. Mask versus Anti-mask. Lockdown versus Freedom. Vaccines versus natural immunity. Left versus right. “Covid is this” versus “Covid is that.”
And that’s where we still are. And that’s where we will remain.
And I can’t help but feel that the amount of hatred and disagreement surrounding Covid-19 could have at least been partially avoided.
Don’t get me wrong, there were going to be disagreements surrounding Covid no matter what, but the multitude of experts who grandstanded about how they “had the answer,” and how “it was abundantly obvious,” and how “any idiot could see,” definitely made matters worse. Especially when you consider a fact that is becoming more and more obvious every day:
The experts didn’t know.
And I have a secret for you. There are many things they still don’t know today.
But here’s the real kicker: It’s not even their fault they don’t know. Covid-19 isn’t easy to figure out. It isn't black or white. It’s gray. In fact, it’s really, really gray. It’s a disease that is life threateningly serious to some people and completely asymptomatic to many more people. That fact alone proves you can’t make blanket statements about the virus. But very few experts were willing to admit they didn’t know what was happening. They wanted to appear in the know. They needed to. They felt they had to live up to the name expert.
And that’s why all the double standards started. That’s why the flip flops started. That’s why the “We are positive it’s this, oh wait no, it’s actually that” started. And that hurt us. Not Democrats. Not Republicans. It hurt us all. It led to uncertainty which led to animosity which led to the digging in of heels which led to ultimatums of “we will fire you if you don’t get vaccinated” and “I’ll be dead before I get vaccinated.”
I. Don’t. Know.
It’s so simple.
I'm a firm believer it is always a bad thing when people who legitimately don’t know enough about something take sweeping action as if they do. This is especially true when those sweeping actions have major ramifications on the masses.
Instead of dropping truths or insults or mandates or mics about Covid-19, I wish someone would have had the guts to drop just one “I don’t know” before forcibly enacting massive changes to a generational way of life.
Comments