The study of human behavior is science too

Are you selectively "following the science"?

Following the (social) science

According to Wikipedia, the study of human behavior is encompassed within the “social sciences,” namely anthropology, psychology sociology, and economics. A running joke on the TV show Bones (and I’m sure in other shows like Big Bang Theory and the like) is that such studies, such dare I say “soft” sciences aren’t really science at all.

But they are. Let me repeat: These studies are scientific studies that include both quantitative analysis of data and qualitative analysis and ethnography, which relies on the observations and insights scientists collect from interacting with people or cultures.

Why am I waxing pedantic about the science of human behavior?

Because two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, people seem very very angry that our government and public health officials, locally and at the federal level, are trying to follow ALL the science, including the science of human behavior, when laying out guidelines.

We've had nearly two years of observing how people are behaving in response to this pandemic. The data are there and the qualitative insights are there.

It is pointless to ignore these data and insights. It is surely unwise to continue to fantasize about changing the kind of behaviors a solid third of this country is engaged in. That horse is so far out of the barn.

I say this as someone who has been incredibly small-c conservative about COVID risk for this entire two years. I say this as someone who believes if we had just paid for everything to freeze for two-to-four weeks in the very beginning…all payments an obligations everywhere up and down the chain of our economy…we might have escaped many 2020 losses and beaten back the virus much more effectively. I say this as someone who has no problems with vaccine mandates and who thinks the government should have sent everyone self-tests two months ago not two weeks from now. Someone who thinks the Trump administration completely blew it (but does deserve credit for making it financially feasible for pharma companies to bring a vaccine to market in record time). Someone who thinks the Biden administration completely overcame the lack of vaccine roll-out strategy or tactics of the prior administration, but at the same time just didn’t adequately plan for when a third of our country would refuse it.

Finally, I say this as someone who still almost always wears a mask inside, including at my mother’s house. In fact, until I was fully-vaxxed I didn’t hang out inside *anywhere* except my own house. Once vaxxed and boosted (which I did as soon as I was eligible), there were a handful specific cases where I traveled or gathered (always masked, tested, isolating before/after). I’m the one who asked that my immediate (all vaxxed and boosted) family self-test before gathering for this most recent Christmas dinner, and in fact one family had to withdraw as they had a single positive test result. All to say: My personal behavior is erring on the side of protection and prevention, no matter what seems to loosed up with local, state, or federal guidelines or rules. And I know many many people (in, I have to say, my blue city in a blue county in a blue state) who are doing exactly the same.

But.

But I know people who have followed precautions and similar self-regulation who have contracted COVID.

But I know there are people who never 100% behaved the way I’m behaving, some doing as little as 0% of the behaviors I do to protect myself and others.

But I know some people, by necessity, are exposing themselves to much more risk than I need to because lack of privilege, because inequity, because capitalism.

But I know that as an introvert who lives with another human, cares for two cats, and has high-speed Internet, the isolation and loneliness hasn’t been as bad for my mental health as it might be for others.

But I know that mandates and fears of new variants have driven some people to finally get vaccinated, or finally get boosted, while there are others who, despite all methods of social and legal pressures, continue to refuse. Over their dead body, they say. And for some of them, it has been.

I don’t really need to grapple with this dilemma. I, again because of privilege, can continue along my way and pat myself on the back for (so far) remaining negative. What other people do really affects me very little if I stay vigilant, and I impress upon my at-risk family members to do the same.

Maybe you don’t need to grapple with this dilemma and these conflicting realities either, but even so have joined me to become a mini-public health expert in these last two years (I say not entirely facetiously, but mostly).

And as such, we are really mad at the CDC and the public officials that we see who give looser guidelines and less conservative recommendations around COVID. We think they are not following the science. But without doubt, they are trying to grapple with the reality of not only the epidemiological science, but the behavioral science as well.

They are trying to mitigate the harms of the observed and cemented behaviors of a non-trivial percentage of the population. They are trying to find ways to instigate incremental changes, because it's quite clear many people are never going to have a wholesale conversion in their approach. I’ll say that again another way: It appears that the time for persuasion is past, and the time for negotiation is here.

All of which, again, doesn’t affect my behavioral choices. I will continue to do the most stringent protective things I know how to do.

I agree comms isn't the strong suit of these officials. I also don’t think there’s a perfect way they could communicate, given the very shifting nature of the information and data and recommendations they have to work with.

And let me just say that for the first 55 years of my life, I don’t remember ever following, being aware of, or thinking about what public health officials were communicating. I mean, sure, I was aware of things like Ebola or AIDS or Zika or…well, honestly, I can’t really think of other potential threats I really paid attention to…but I wasn’t following and dissecting the comms plans around those threats on an actual daily basis. Or monthly. Or ever.

So here’s the truth: We all have to keep doing our thing, because the government has TRIED to save us (not perfectly, don’t get it twisted), and we (some non-trivial portion of us to be clear, maybe not you, I believe not me) will not deign to be saved.

The fact that mitigation and negotiation efforts are being undertaken now is as much the result of scientific analysis as any other efforts that were earlier undertaken.

Studying human behavior is a scientific pursuit, and it is turning out to be the most important pursuit of all.

I don’t like it either. but #ISaidWhatISaid. What do you say?

Last week-ish

I did my best to take it easy these past two weeks. I watched a lot of TV/Movies (yay Encanto, meh French Dispatch, yay Hawkeye, on the fence SATC: AJLT). I read a bunch of books (yay for being turned on to Elizabeth Strout’s work). And I did a lot of 2022 planning and prep, including refreshing my #notresolutionsjusthabits. Here’s hoping 2022 will be the year we all hoped 2021 would be! if we can get through these next 4-6 weeks and survive Omicron maybe it will indeed be.

Did you decide to create some new habits in 2022?

Coming this week-ish

I started a new consulting gig with the Professional Business Women of California last month, which I’ll expand on later, but next week they’re holding a webinar that may be of interest to some of you. It’s all about Presence Under Pressure (i.e. speaking with authentic confidence, even when you’re nervous) with Brenne Hali.

Please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts on any or all of the above. This is basically my blog now! And as always I appreciate a share of this newsletter or my podcast.

And if I can help you break through the things that are keeping you stuck, or you just want to brainstorm new habits you can set, set up your first introductory 30-minute consult for free by booking it in my Calendly.