In November 2008, I was eight months pregnant, watching the election returns roll in.
asserted
returns → watch → November
Somehow, I’d found a way to make myself even more uncomfortable: I was upside down on my couch.
asserted
I → find → couch
My feet dangled above me.
asserted
feet → dangle → me
I strained to balance myself while trying to keep something called mugwort near my toes.
asserted
I → strain → toes
My daughter was breech, and I was willing to try anything to help her flip, even if it meant turning the world upside-down.
asserted
it → try → world
I’d seen from a Google search that “moxibustion” with the smoldering herb might help with turning a breech baby.
uncertain
moxibustion → see → baby
As a physician and scientist, I was well aware there was limited peer-reviewed evidence for what I was doing.
asserted
I → be → what
I’d never heard of anyone prescribing moxibustion.
asserted
I → hear → moxibustion
But with the window narrowing for the birth I had hoped for, I was more willing to believe there might be something to it.
uncertain
I → narrow → it
Although I was skeptical, I thought, “It couldn’t hurt!
asserted
It → think → ?
My impulse to seek out and use unproven health information is not uncommon.
asserted
impulse → seek → information
New research released by the Edelman Trust Institute and our team at the Yale School of Public Health, where I serve as dean, shows that many of us are willing to look for health guidance in unreliable places.
asserted
many → release → places
In a world where information comes at us in fragments and trust in institutions is crumbling, it’s worth understanding what we believe and why.
asserted
we → come → what
Our new analysis tested views on six unfounded health claims about subjects like childhood vaccines, raw milk, fluoride in drinking water, and so on.
uncertain
analysis → test → water
Huge majorities of the 13,000+ people surveyed, 70% globally, believed at least one of these claims.
uncertain
majorities → survey → claims
And the people who believed these claims weren’t simply those without exposure to science; most of them had taken a university-level or higher science course.
uncertain
most → believe → course
Nor did susceptibility fall neatly along partisan or generational lines.
asserted
susceptibility → fall → lines
The search for alternative answers is far more mainstream than we tend to assume.
asserted
we → tend → answers
Young or old, left or right—almost all of us are confused about some aspect of health information.
asserted
all → confuse → information
That’s especially true, the analysis shows, in moments of fear and uncertainty, when your life or the life of someone you love is on the line.
asserted
you → ’ → line
In fact, those who frequently interacted with the health care system were more than 50% more likely to hold three or more of these unfounded beliefs.
asserted
who → interact → beliefs
Anyone who has endured the frustration of a complicated or persistent illness can understand why that might be the case.
uncertain
that → endure → illness
The longer you search for answers, the more uncertainty you encounter: ambiguous tests, treatments that don’t work, specialists who disagree.
asserted
who → search → tests
So people keep searching.
asserted
people → keep → ?
They may rely on intuition or turn to friends for answers.
uncertain
They → rely → answers
Increasingly, people also look online or turn to AI.
asserted
people → look → AI
In fact, nearly half of the respondents in our survey believe someone without medical training who is fluent with AI can perform at least one health-related task as well as or better than a doctor.
asserted
who → believe → doctor
As a doctor, these findings concern me, but don’t surprise me.
asserted
findings → concern → me
People crave empathy, humility, and active listening.
asserted
People → crave → empathy
AI—as well as friends, family, and social media—can provide that.
asserted
AI → provide → that
Whether they provide accurate information is, however, up for debate.
asserted
provide → provide → debate
Our analysis shows what may work in the face of confusion: recognizing that people are far more likely to accept good advice when they believe their concerns are truly heard.
uncertain
concerns → show → advice
That principle applies not only to the exam room, but to anywhere public health asks people to place their trust in expertise.
asserted
health → apply → expertise
What techniques seem to make a difference?
asserted
techniques → seem → difference
People reported being more likely to take advice when they believe, first, that their concerns and experience have been taken seriously, when they believe that someone understands their community, and when they feel listened to.
asserted
they → report → community
As we collectively wade through a sea of conflicting health information, knowing whom to trust is genuinely hard.
asserted
knowing → wade → whom
Misinformation flourishes in the petri dish of uncertainty, especially when misinformation offers simple answers to complicated questions.
asserted
misinformation → flourish → questions
But our analysis shows that trust is not out of reach.
asserted
trust → show → reach
In fact, nearly half of respondents said they’d seen doctors or medical experts build bridges and grow trust.
asserted
doctors → say → trust
This is where this analysis holds hope and shows us that there are paths forward.
asserted
analysis → hold → us
…and 6 more, not listed.
The Aporia
