Blinded By Science

 Back in 1978, there was this comedy show. It was very anarchic and seemed to hit the zeitgeist more often than it missed. This show was Saturday Night Live. You may have heard of it. This will not be a discussion of that show's continued cultural relevance, since much greater minds have wrestled with that dilemma for more than forty years. Instead, I am here because of a skit that came from that second season, hosted by Steve Martin. Steve portrayed Theodoric of York, Medieval Barber. The primary joke was that back in the middle ages "the study of medicine was still in its infancy." This left the doctoring to the local barber, whose bag of tricks consisted primarily of letting blood out of his customers/patients. This was Steve Martin at his haughty, arrogant best, prescribing more leeches and more bloodletting for a man who comes to him with broken legs. 

Eventually, the mother of one of Theodoric's patients becomes incensed when her daughter dies under his "care." She shouts, "Why don’t you admit it! You don’t know what you’re doing!" 

This gives Theodoric pause, as he steps forward to stare directly into the camera: "Wait a minute. Perhaps she’s right. Perhaps I’ve been wrong to blindly folow the medical traditions and superstitions of past centuries. Maybe we barbers should test these assumptions analytically, through experimentation and a 'scientific method.' Maybe this scientific method could be extended to other fields of learning: the natural sciences, art, architecture, navigation. Perhaps I could lead the way to a new age, an age of rebirth, a Renaissance!" There is a very long beat. Then,  "Naaaaaahhh!" Back to the bloodletting. 

End of skit. 

Back in 1978, it was hilarious. A few days ago, I stared blankly at reports of anti-vax protests in front of a hospital in Canada. Canada, eh? Not Florida. Not Texas. Not the United States. It would seem our mild-mannered neighbors to the north are not immune to the radical lack of information that I had believed was primarily restricted to the lower forty-eight. Nope. While doctors and nurses worked furiously to save lives inside, outside there was a furious mob trying to make their job more difficult. This was not a skit on Saturday Night Live. Or SCTV, for that matter. It was real life. Confirming once again that you can lead a horse to a library but you can't make him think. Or a moose, for that matter. Forget the masks, and pass me more leeches.