Ryan Holiday argues that courage means confronting vaccine misinformation, not avoiding it. He frames vaccination as a just act that reduces harm to others, citing viral-load data and mortality statistics to show its public-health benefits.
Questions this video answers
Almost 96% (as stated in the transcript).
Vaccinated people carry 40% less viral load, 60% less virus in the throat, and carry the virus three days less (as stated by the speaker).
Close to 10,000 reported deaths (as stated in the transcript).
209 million adults over 18 in the United States (as stated in the transcript).
90% of the world vaccinated (as stated in the transcript).
Chapters
Very few creators want to speak about something that's going to piss off 30% of their audience, right? Take an issue like vaccines. Almost 96% of doctors or more have been vaccinated. Overwhelmingly, the people dying or in the hospital are unvaccinated. It's almost impossible to disagree with at this point. And so this goes to what we were talking about earlier. When we talk about courage, it means doing what you think the right thing to do is, regardless of what the consequences are are.
Today's guest I'm really excited about. His name is Ryan Holiday, one of the greatest philosophers of the modern era. I've been following this man not just because of his writing, but because of what he shares on Instagram, his value system, the way he stands up for what he believes. Ryan, welcome to mindvalley. How do we differentiate true courage from a situation where we are actually misinformed and we are operating from a place of ignorance?
Aristotle was talking about that exact issue 2,500 years ago. He says, look, courage has to exist on a spectrum because there's cowardice. But on the opposite end of cowardice is recklessness. And in the middle, that's where courage is. When we talk about courage, we don't just mean having no fear, because there are some things that are dangerous that we have to be aware of. So when we think about something like vaccines, this is where the other virtues come into play. Not being afraid of COVID is good. You shouldn't be afraid of a virus. But there's a difference between being afraid of something and then being aware and understanding something. When the stoics talk about self discipline, when they talk about justice, when they talk about wisdom, this is where this all comes together. You have to understand what's going on. Take something like a vaccine. If you go, I'm not afraid of death. I'm healthy. What do I care if I get Covid? I guess that's okay, except the average person who gets Covid infects between, like, five and 10 other people. Who are you to go around giving a virus to other people that they don't want to get that could be deadly or very painful to them? So it's an injustice not to get vaccinated or to take the COVID protocol seriously. But then also, let's talk about wisdom, right? How many of the people who are resistant to these protocols for the vaccines are doing so because they've been fundamentally misinformed or misled? Right? And we see this, you know, in the US Almost every day. There's a Story about some anti vaxxer who was an anti vax activist who's now in the hospital or dying of COVID and their last words are trying to implore about what a mistake they made. So when we talk about virtue, courage isn't simply just doing a dangerous thing and not being afraid. Courage is doing the right thing without fear. I've decided to get vaccinated, to have my children be vaccinated, to try to take Covid seriously with my employees in my bookstore and my office. It's because I don't want to to negatively impact other people. I would feel terrible if in any way a choice that I took negatively impacted or worse, killed somebody else. That's. I don't want that on my conscious. And I feel like we have an obligation as human beings to try to come together and solve problems like this.
Absolutely, Ryan, absolutely. Thank you so much for sharing that. Now I'm seeing in the comments people are saying, well, vaccinated people can spread the virus as well. Yes, yes. Which is true, which is true, which is true. But here's the data. According to the Cleveland Clinic, if you are vaccinated, you carry 40% less viral load, 60% less virus in your throat, and you carrying the virus three days less, so you spread it. Less viral spread is a mathematical function. Governments and good policymakers can predict the rate of spread. Vaccination and mask reduce the rate of spread.
So less likely to get it.
If you're less likely to get it.
Right, and then you can't spread what.
You didn't get, people say, oh, that people may die from the vaccine. It is true. If you go to the VAERS database, you will see close to 10,000 reported deaths. However, half of those are car accidents and the other half are coincidental. Every single day in America during the peak of vaccination, if you actually do the math and you understand statistics and probability, 38 people who get vaccinated die the same day to get vaccinated. I kid you not, but it is not the vaccine. It is just statistical probability. They would have died anyway. It's because there are 209 million adults over 18 in the United States. It is very important that we understand the difference between a known known and a known unknown. Nobody has to get vaccinated. You're right. We need 90% of the world vaccinated to bring an end to this pandemic. Right. And if you don't want to, it's okay, you can be in that 10%. It's not an issue. But the Main thing is, what we are seeing today is that in a significant amount of people, 40%, according to a famous Italian study, you are getting long term Covid. A study emerging today showed that if you get Covid, your odds of dying this year go up 233% from your average rate of dying, which, to give you an idea for an 86 year old, is 18% per year. Long term Covid is a serious issue. It plagues a lot of people. It's not worth it. Vaccination has proven to be safer than we ever imagined. And it's cheap, it's effective, it is free. Please get vaccinated.
I think you said it better than I could. I'll leave it there.
Going back to what's happening right now, I love the Spectrum, the Spectrum by Aristotle. And the reason I want to tell you that is because your book changed me in a fundamental way. Until today, until this podcast, I've never openly spoken out on what I believe about vaccination and how I feel. The anti vax movement are good people and they have a right to their belief. But I believe it is dangerous. I've never spoken out because I didn't have the courage because I know there are people in my audience who would disagree and I just didn't want to rock the boat. And I have friends who build their Instagram profiles and are getting a huge amount of attention by spreading anti vaccine hype. I know why they do it. They firstly, they firmly believe it. They get tons of engagement on their posts when they come up with another theory and why the vaccine or the mandates are a conspiracy. And I just didn't want to tarnish my friendships. And so I stayed silent. And after reading your book today, I felt more comfortable speaking what I truly believe. So thank you for that.
