COVID Takeaway

I learned a very valuable lesson from COVID over the past couple of years.

The drumbeat of these couple of years has been "Trust the science!" They have thrown it at us the whole time. They've had to counter conspiracy theorists (not science) and crackpots (not science) and outlandish social media extremists (not science) and religious crackpots (not science) and have continued to tell us over and over, "Trust the science!"

Now, mind you, I work with science. I am surrounded with researchers, very bright individuals whose specialty is largely biology and medicine. When it comes to science, these people know their stuff. So it isn't a surprise that they, too, have urged us all to "Trust the science!" I have been surprised to see the amazing way that these same brilliant individuals ... have opted to ignore the science. And, of course, by no means are these atypical. It has been there in full force among a great number of our "Trust the science!" voices.

In early 2020 they discovered this new coronavirus, but the science said it wouldn't be a big deal. By March it was. The CDC was on the job, warning us all to isolate for two weeks to flatten the curve. We did. And it didn't work. Masks, they assured us, weren't necessary. Some thought otherwise, but, no, the CDC told us, don't bother. Oh, hang on, yes, do bother. Maybe even double mask. Because the science wasn't clear. When the vaccine came through, the Democrats warned us not to trust the science because it was Trumpian ... until, of course, we elected one of their boys, and then we could, once again, trust the science. The Vaccine would save us all. It didn't. Well, at least it would save the vaccinated. Sitting in a room with two PhD scientists fully vaccinated and double masked they explained to me why everyone needed to be vaccinated. "That's the only way to be safe." "But ... you've been vaccinated. Aren't you safe?" Yes, science told us. But we weren't. "You vaccinated are now free to go without masks because it's safe" they told us in June, 2021, but by August they had backtracked ... quickly. It wasn't. Vaccinated people could get, transmit, and even die from COVID. So you need to get vaccinated. Trust the science. Science said, "People with natural immunity are more immune than the vaccinated" and "Vaccinated people are more immune than those with natural immunity." Trust the science. "Natural immunity lasts 3 months ... 6 months ... 16 months ..." Trust the science. And while immunity is not accurately measured by antibodies (you don't, for instance, have antibodies to, say, measles even though you've been vaccinated), it has been the standard measurement for immunity from the start of this pandemic. Trust the science. Most recently the CDC informed us that the science had changed ... again. Now you only need to wear a mask if you're in a high-risk area. Did my bright research associates say, "Oh, look, we're not in a high-risk area, so we can take off our masks"? No, of course not. They did not trust the science and trusted, instead, their carefully cultivated, overly fertilized, heavily watered fear.

"Trust the science" sounds reasonable. Reasonable, even "sciency" people have both declared it and ignored it. The only real rule, it seems, is "Believe what you want." So my valuable lesson is that science changes all the time (because that's what it's designed to do -- adjust) and makes a lousy god to trust. And people intrinsically know this. They'll only urge "Trust the science" if it agrees with their hunches. (Feel free to carry that handy lesson over into other areas of life.) (Think, for instance, "racism" and "inclusion" and "tolerance" and such.)