Questioning Authority

An article, originally written by Dr. Mark Hyman in 2014, re-appeared last week announcing a great revelation. The medical world has concluded that it is not fat that cause heart attacks, but sugar.

“Oops. Fifty years of doctors’ advice and government eating guidelines have been wrong. We’ve been told to swap eggs for Cheerios. But that recommendation is dead wrong. In fact, it’s very likely that this bad advice has killed millions of Americans.

“A rigorously done new study shows that those with the highest sugar intake had a four-fold increase in their risk of heart attacks compared to those with the lowest intakes. That’s 400%! Just one 20-ounce soda increases your risk of a heart attack by about 30%.

“This study of more than 40,000 people, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, accounted for all other potential risk factors including total calories, overall diet quality, smoking, cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity and alcohol.”

 Such studies and reversals of opinions and theories happen everyday. When these great pronouncements are originally made, they are delivered with such positive power that everyone believes them, or at least most people do. Herein lies the problem. How do we know for sure that what the authorities are proclaiming is in fact true? We must remember that the world was once believed to be flat. 

Great minds or the authorities on various subjects change in most fields that affect our lives in different ways. Here is an example of a medical revelation that redirects our focus on what exactly puts us at risk for having a heart attack. In another realm, art historians argue the authenticity of works of art from decade to decade. The best practices for raising children, rearing livestock, growing crops, or even adding up a column of numbers all have changed since I was a young man.

How do we know whom to believe? Is it healthy to take what the ‘doctor’ says as the gospel? Are we absolutely sure that what the auto mechanic explains to us about the inner workings of our car’s engine is true? In short, how do we know when the wool is being pulled over our eyes and if we should in fact question expert advice?

Look at the situation with world leaders? Most of us were raised to respect and honour a person taking on this role. But we witness the basics of democratic government being abused and ridiculed. Trust is being brought into question as the decades unfold. What are we to do?

I think we need to get back to the basics. I was reflecting yesterday about how different life must have been a hundred years ago when there was no time for most people to become as easily distracted as we can today. Day to day living was rigorous, dedicated to survival and the hard work that entailed. People dedicated themselves to the basic chores of sustaining themselves and their families. There were no conveniences and easy solutions. No microwave ovens, cell phones, television, instant anything. People had responsibilities that they simply could not shirk if they wanted to stay alive.

With the dramatic changes that have occurred over the years, we now have too much time to become distracted and lazy. More of the choices we make focus on our pleasure and less on survival. We have become a more entitled society. We have evolved unfortunately into a society that has too many of our day-to-day worries tended by governments and their agencies. We have education, health care, good roads, available food sources, warm, safety, etc. We have come to take these things for granted. Being responsible for our survival has decreased substantially. This attitude and our acceptance of this was of life needs to change.

We need to become more aware of how we affect those people around us and how they affect us. We need to take more responsibility for our well-being and rely less and less on the government. As we take on this responsibility, we must carefully consider as many perspectives as we can before making important decisions. We must learn to advocate for ourselves. In the words of Stephen Hawking, "Look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious." Remember that in many ways we are still in the infancy stages of many discoveries and situations. 

Healthcare, communication, transportation, and education are but a few examples of where revolutionary changes are occurring. While being grateful for these great strides forward, we must not forget to keep pushing the envelope, looking to stretch ourselves even further into improving our ways of life. The sky’s the limit.

Being inquisitive and questioning authority is a healthy practiceif it is done with honest intent without malice or a destructive bent. The intention of these challenges is important. As stewards of the planet and guardians of our children, our families, and our communities, we should focus on doing the right thing. I am reminded of the warning; you cannot be everything to everyone. This is certainly true. No one is asking anyone to fill that impossible role, yet we blindly throw our trust onto people who, although we hope have ‘all the answers’, simply do not. Now is the time to become aware of what our responsibilities are and take them seriously. By becoming part of the solution, we can live more fulfilling, meaningful lives.