As we prepare for Thanksgiving this week, I have been reflecting on the importance of tradition, and how we can weave together the past with the future. Public health is, by nature, forward-looking. We aspire to a progressive vision of the future, one that supports health through a radical reimagining of the status quo. This calls on us to envision new ways of structuring our world, with an eye towards optimizing it for health. Our pursuit of this vision leads us to explore novel approaches to supporting health, to innovate, and to embrace new ways of thinking about, and living in, the world. The most high-profile recent example of this is the emergence of mRNA vaccines, which have done so much to help address the COVID-19 pandemic. And it is worth recalling that public health tools and interventions we now take for granted—like hand-washing, public sanitation, and designing urban spaces with an eye toward health—were once new, radical even. Their success speaks to the importance of a public health that is moving ever-forward, eyes fixed on the possibilities of the future. I have written previously on why we need to keep evolving as a field, to continually hone our focus on what matters most for health. This emphasis on progress supported by collective forward momentum is close to the bone of public health, part of our field’s DNA, and rightly so.
Having established that this vision of progress matters, we can then ask—is it all that matters? Is a relentless focus on the future both necessary and sufficient for getting us to a healthier world? It strikes me that such a focus is not, in fact, enough. For public health to be most effective, it should balance a focus on the future with a respect for—and willingness to learn from—what has served us well in the past. We should pay special attention to what has been handed down to us through the generations—namely, tradition. A focus on tradition also aligns with the themes of the Thanksgiving season, as we pause to reflect, with gratitude, on all we have. This reflection can inform an appreciation of the best of our traditions and how tradition has helped shape a healthier world. Some thoughts on why tradition matters, and how thoughtful engagement with tradition can help us create a better future.
Read the full post at The Healthiest Goldfish.