Generally no other supporting evidence follows, the conclusion is reached purely based up on their personal experience.
This is quite typical of human nature I think. We base our "norms" on what we see around us, we are less likely to believe negative implications of something unless we see/experience it first hand. Furthermore it's very difficult for a mother to begin to contemplate negative implications that may relate to her own child - believing it's rubbish is an inherently more comfortable position.
But it doesn't take a genius to establish this logic is fatally flawed. If you don't know anyone who smokes and has died of lung cancer, is it accurate to conclude smoking doesn't cause harm? Many of us were raised without booster seats in the car for older toddlers/children - I didn't come to harm in a crash therefore does that mean nobody else has? That we can abandon safety in the fact of anecdotal evidence?
The reality is that when discussing infant feeding, we are talking risks not certainties.
Risk
Noun: The possibility of suffering harm or loss; danger.
Cer·tain·ty
Noun: Firm conviction that something is the case.
What it does mean is if you take two groups - one breastfed and one not, those not breastfed would be more likely or have a higher chance of developing XYZ. Sometimes this risk is slight, other times more significant - but it remains a risk not a given.
If we can maintain this perspective, perhaps it may lead to more progressive dialogue whereby instead of debate over whether one has/hasn't had experience something that tallies with what evidence is telling us - we could instead move on to discuss how to reduce whatever risk is in question.
It's sad that you have to write this blog post. This is an overwhelmingly huge bug bear of mine. I've had debates with seemingly intelligent people who use this backwards 'logic' as their underlining response and it just baffles me every time. I know I've won a debate when someone throws this line out there, but the frustrating thing is that they don't know it themselves! I am forever trying to work out if people really are that lacking in logic or if this is simply a self-preservation method in order to avoid facing up to the things we don't like to acknowledge. I think this bothers me so much because it is not *us* who suffer for our penchant for ignorant bliss, it is our children...
ReplyDeleteLove it... Thank u for once again articulating exactly what I think... The next blog should be in response to the argument that hating formula advertising obviously equals hating formula...
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