There’s something about the current debate around polyvagal theory that bothers me — and it’s not the neuroscience.
It’s the tone.
The “See? Your thing is wrong and stupid"
The internet gloating when something gets questioned bugs me!
And this isn’t just about polyvagal theory. I see it in the evidence-based world all the time. People attach to their beliefs like a cult. And someone who doesn't believe what we do is not just wrong, they are stupid. Other. Not as good as us.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth:
Everything we believe is is based on some blend of fact, context, opinion, our lens and experiences. Our (gasp) biases!
Every thing we now know in medicine began as a hypothesis. Some parts survive. Some parts get refined. Some parts get discarded. That’s not failure — that’s how science works. It's inquiry!
The smartest people in history have believed things that were later revised. Why would we assume we’re immune to that process?
If you’re a manual therapist, let’s be especially honest: some of what you learned in school has already been updated. Some of what you currently believe will eventually be updated.
That’s normal.
But our nervous systems don’t like that.
Our nervous systems want certainty, and predictability. We want solid ground. We feel safer when we believe we’re standing on unquestionable truth.
So we gather more evidence for what we already believe. We double down and become more certain. And when someone else’s framework gets challenged, it can feel like a win.
But none of us are standing on perfectly solid ground! I'm 100% that some things I currently believe, and some of what I teach will turn out to be wrong.
The scientific landscape is constantly shifting. Research evolves because it's supposed to. And when we know better, we do better!
If we’re going to claim to be “evidence-based,” we also need to be humble. Being evidence-based doesn’t mean being rigid or smug. It doesn’t mean pretending we’ve reached the final version of truth. It means being willing to update and say: “I taught this before. The evidence has evolved. Here’s what we understand now.”
That’s strength, not weakness. Curiosity is stronger than certainty. Humility is stronger than gloating. And flexibility is far more scientific than rigidity.
When we know better, we do better.
And we will know better in five years than we do today.
That’s not a threat, that's science.
