Five questions for Dr. Rubin, who’s armed with a mic and a bowtie
Five questions for Dr. Rubin, who’s armed with a mic and a bowtie
鲁宾医生：手持麦克风，系着领结，向五大问题发起挑战
Bullshit is cheap but truth is expensive. Anyone with half a brain cell can post wild misinformation that goes mega viral, which wastes the time and expertise of highly trained people who feel an obligation to inform others of the truth. Today I want you to meet one of those highly-trained people, Dr. Zachary Rubin, who works on the front lines against scientific and medical misinformation.
胡言乱语成本低廉，但真相却弥足珍贵。任何有点脑子的人都能发布疯狂的虚假信息并使其病毒式传播，这浪费了那些有义务告知他人真相、受过高等训练的专业人士的时间和精力。今天，我想向大家介绍其中一位专业人士——扎卡里·鲁宾（Zachary Rubin）医生，他正奋战在抵制科学和医学虚假信息的第一线。
Rubin is a pediatric allergist and immunologist and author of the book All About Allergies. He likely came across my TikTok feed because I crave anti-misinformation content; one of my other favorite people doing this work is Rubin’s colleague Dr. Idrees Mughal, aka Dr. Idz, who fights the good fight against wellness grifters and other miscreants. You can find Rubin on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
鲁宾是一位儿科过敏症和免疫学专家，也是《关于过敏的一切》（All About Allergies）一书的作者。他出现在我的 TikTok 信息流中，很可能是因为我热衷于反虚假信息内容；我关注的另一位从事这项工作的专家是鲁宾的同事伊德里斯·穆加尔（Idrees Mughal）医生，也就是大家熟知的“Idz 医生”，他一直在与健康骗子和其他不法之徒进行斗争。你可以在 Instagram、TikTok 和 YouTube 上找到鲁宾医生。
Rubin knows how to post, often appearing with a small mic in his hand and always with his signature bowtie. His style of speaking invokes authority but never condescension, which is one of the reasons I think he’s a great science communicator.
鲁宾很懂得如何发布内容，他经常手持一个小麦克风出镜，且总是系着他标志性的领结。他的演讲风格既权威又不失亲和力，从不居高临下，这也是我认为他是一位出色的科学传播者的原因之一。
Rubin has a medical practice, but I asked him five questions about his other job: helping rid the world of junk science and making us all better informed.
鲁宾有自己的私人诊所，但我向他提出了五个关于他“另一份工作”的问题：即如何帮助世界摆脱伪科学，并让我们每个人都获得更准确的信息。
The journey to becoming a doctor is long and difficult. Before we get into your work online, please tell me why you embarked on this path.
成为一名医生的道路漫长而艰辛。在谈论您的网络工作之前，请告诉我们您为何选择这条道路？
I’ve always been fascinated by how the human body works. Medicine appealed to me because it combines science, problem-solving, and the privilege of helping people during some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives. I was fortunate to see these moments early in my life because my dad is a pediatrician. Allergy and immunology was especially compelling because the immune system touches nearly every aspect of health, and many of the conditions I treat can dramatically improve when patients finally receive the right diagnosis and treatment. Becoming a physician has been incredibly challenging, but it’s also one of the most rewarding decisions I’ve ever made.
我一直对人体如何运作着迷。医学吸引我，是因为它结合了科学、问题解决能力，以及在人们生命中最脆弱的时刻帮助他们的荣幸。我很幸运在很小的时候就见证了这些时刻，因为我的父亲就是一名儿科医生。过敏和免疫学尤其令我着迷，因为免疫系统几乎触及健康的方方面面，而许多我治疗的疾病，在患者最终得到正确的诊断和治疗后，都能得到显著改善。成为一名医生极具挑战性，但这也是我做过的最有意义的决定之一。
You’re a great communicator of science and medicine. (Your signature bowtie is a nice touch, by the way.) Your videos demonstrate a rare combination of talents that the world needs, especially as we’re plagued by a firehose of misinformation. You could have just kept quiet at your practice with your patients. Why wade into the muck online?
您是一位出色的科学和医学传播者。（顺便说一句，您标志性的领结很棒。）您的视频展示了一种世界所需要的罕见才能，尤其是在我们被海量虚假信息困扰的当下。您本可以安安静静地在诊所里看病，为什么要涉足网络这片浑水？
I realized that misinformation doesn’t stay online; it walks into my exam room every day. Patients deserve access to understandable, evidence-based information before they ever need to see a doctor. Social media allows me to reach millions of people with the same conversations I have in clinic every day. My goal isn’t to tell people what to think. It’s to help them think critically about health claims, understand what the evidence actually shows, and feel empowered to ask better questions.
我意识到虚假信息并不会只停留在网上，它每天都会走进我的诊室。患者在看医生之前，理应获得易于理解且基于证据的信息。社交媒体让我能够将我在诊所里每天进行的对话，传递给数以百万计的人。我的目标不是告诉人们该怎么想，而是帮助他们批判性地思考健康主张，理解证据的真实含义，并有能力提出更好的问题。
What’s the number one thing you wish people understood about science and/or medicine?
关于科学和/或医学，您最希望人们理解的一点是什么？
That uncertainty isn’t a weakness, it’s one of science’s greatest strengths. Science isn’t a collection of immutable facts. It’s a process for getting closer to the truth. Good scientists are willing to change their minds when better evidence emerges. Unfortunately, that can look like inconsistency to the public, when it’s actually how progress happens. Confidence should always be proportional to the quality of the evidence.
不确定性不是弱点，而是科学最大的优势之一。科学不是一堆不可改变的事实，而是一个不断接近真相的过程。优秀的科学家愿意在更好的证据出现时改变自己的观点。不幸的是，这在公众眼中可能看起来像是“前后不一”，但实际上这正是进步发生的方式。信心永远应该与证据的质量成正比。
What’s your favorite thing about countering misinformation online, and what’s the most challenging?
在网上反击虚假信息，您觉得最棒的部分是什么？最困难的部分又是什么？
The most rewarding part is hearing from someone who says, “I changed my mind.” That’s incredibly rare today, and it reminds me that respectful conversations can still make a difference. The hardest part is that misinformation spreads faster than nuance. A confident but incorrect statement can go viral in minutes, while explaining the evidence often takes far longer. Add in algorithms that reward outrage, and it becomes an uphill battle, but that’s exactly why more physicians and scientists need to be part of the conversation.
最有成就感的部分是听到有人说：“我改变主意了。”这在今天非常罕见，它提醒我，相互尊重的对话依然能产生影响。最困难的部分是虚假信息的传播速度远快于细致的解释。一个自信但错误的陈述可以在几分钟内疯传，而解释证据往往需要更长的时间。再加上那些奖励愤怒情绪的算法，这变成了一场艰难的战斗，但这正是为什么更多的医生和科学家需要参与到这场对话中来的原因。
America is turning 250 years old. This country has been behind a lot of great science and medicine. What are we doing wrong, and what could we do better?
美国即将迎来建国 250 周年。这个国家在许多伟大的科学和医学成就背后发挥了作用。我们哪里做得不对？又有哪些地方可以做得更好？
The United States has an extraordinary history of scientific discovery because we’ve invested in research, encouraged innovation, and welcomed people with diverse ideas and expertise. I hope we continue to value those strengths. One area where we can improve is scientific literacy. We should spend more time teaching people how to evaluate evidence, not just what to memorize. At the same time, scientists and physicians need to become better communicators. If we don’t explain our work clearly and transparently, someone else will fill that void. Trust isn’t built by having all the answers, it’s built by being honest about what we know, what we don’t know, and how we’re working to find out.
美国在科学发现方面有着非凡的历史，因为我们投资于研究、鼓励创新，并欢迎拥有多元思想和专业知识的人才。我希望我们能继续珍视这些优势。我们可以改进的一个领域是科学素养。我们应该花更多时间教人们如何评估证据，而不仅仅是死记硬背。同时，科学家和医生需要成为更好的传播者。如果我们不能清晰、透明地解释我们的工作，就会有其他人填补这个空白。信任不是建立在拥有所有答案的基础上，而是建立在对已知和未知的事实保持诚实，并展示我们如何努力去探索真相的过程中。