1. Something I am reflecting on…
I am thinking about 9/11. I’ve spent some time this week reading some articles and looking at historic photographs from that event. I was surprised to find out that of the 2,753 people killed in the World Trade Center attacks, more than 1,100 victims (about 40% of those who died) remain unidentified. I was unaware of that. Two victims were identified just this week through DNA analysis. Here is one site with some of the photos I looked at (the article is from 2009)… the two most moving photos for me were #2, The Falling Man, and #11, a collage of almost all of the victims.
2. A realization I have had this past year…
If there is one thing that I’ve realized this past year, it is that minds are very resistant to change. Our beliefs about life and our world view are shaped by MANY things. Once we commit something to a belief, it becomes very hard to change. Do you seek to be right? Or do you seek the truth? I constantly check my thinking, behavior, and agendas to ensure that TRUTH is the goal… not bolstering my point or trying to be “right.” What good is sticking to a belief if it isn’t the truth? My mind is open. It can change tomorrow.
3. Some science that caught my attention this week…
Because there is so much concern about emerging variants of COVID-19, I would think it SUPER important to figure out what drives this creation of variants. Many will say it’s because of the unvaccinated. Others will say it’s the natural evolution of a virus. Yet others say that the vaccines themselves could push variants to emerge. This is one of those topics in which what you believe will surely depend on what you read or who you listen to. Because I do not care whether you get a vaccine or not, I’m sharing this info to keep you in the loop with what I’m thinking, reading, and pondering. This week I read an article titled Vaccines Are Pushing Pathogens to Evolve: Just as antibiotics breed resistance in bacteria, vaccines can incite changes that enable diseases to escape their control. Researchers are working to head off the evolution of new threats. It was at QuantaMagazine.org (click here for the article), is pro-vaccine in nature, and interestingly, was written about three and a half years ago (before SARS-CoV-2 and the pandemic). It’s a bit scientific and not short, so many of you won’t like reading it. And I don’t really want to summarize it, as I think the title gives you the gist. Just know that the success of any drug therapy has to be measured not just by its short-term, immediate, apparent success, but its long-term effect. And because we are in the infancy of this new intervention, considering science provided in articles like this one could help ensure best outcomes, and help avoid preventable disasters. If we are anticipating future variants (someone said this week that there are not enough letters in the Greek alphabet for upcoming variants), let’s be sure we know what slows or fuels the genetic mutations that can make this virus more virulent, more dangerous, and better at evading the protection we are being told the vaccine provides. No matter what side of the vaccine issue you are on, I think we can all agree that we need to consider all the science to help ensure we don’t have a big “oops!” situation. Here is an interesting line from the last paragraph of the article… “Part of the problem, Read says, is that researchers are afraid: They’re nervous to talk about and call attention to potential evolutionary effects because they fear that doing so might fuel more fear and distrust of vaccines by the public — even though the goal is, of course, to ensure long-term vaccine success.” (Remember… this article was written BEFORE the pandemic and is a pro-vaccine article.)
