About 5 years ago, rumors of a new respiratory virus breakout in China were murmuring in the background of public discourse. Little did we know that only a few months later, we would be faced with "two weeks to flatten the curve," followed by indefinite lockdowns and the crushing economic consequences of combining reductions in productive market exchanges and ballooning money supply inflation.
As these difficulties mounted, critics were accused of two primary faults: disregard for their fellow mankind, and failure to "trust the science." Oddly enough, any scientists with all the academic credentials to authoritatively challenge this artificial consensus were de-platformed on Web2 and derided in the legacy media as kooks. There were demands they be dismissed from their jobs. Those of us laymen with merely a basic education in science were told we were too stupid to understand, and needed to fall in line or else we were a menace to society.
Derived from an image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
Never mind that science is a process to find verifiable repeatable answers to questions, not a hierarchical authority of "because I said so," any questions could only be framed as wilful ignorance. This was chillingly similar to 2001/2002 when questioning US policy in the Global War on Terror was framed as treason, or at least a lack of patriotism. COVID policies told us to trust the bureaucratic scientists, and disregard science entirely.
I trust science when it meets a few basic criteria.
- I drove thousands of miles to see the 2024 solar eclipse in totality last April, an event which occurred exactly where, when, and how scientists had predicted.
- I trust my computer to work because computer science, manufacturing technology, and electricity have led us to making rocks reliably perform crazy mathematics.
- I trust the batteries inside my laptop because chemistry works.
- I trust the globe earth model because it explains observations I can make, and withstands the challenges raised by Flat Earthers, including the recent Final Experiment demonstration of 24-hour sun in Antarctica as we approach our longest night of the year here in the Northern Hemisphere. That simply does not work on any flat earth model.
I even trust most of modern medicine, although I admit my suspicions rise in correlation to the degree of governmental funding and mandates.
What I do not trust is men with titles and self-proclaimed authority, or corporations pushing government-subsidized "solutions," or news media hyperbole, especially when I'm not even convinced there's a problem in the first place. That isn't science. Politicians and their lackeys do routinely lie to us. They lied about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. They lied about Taliban complicity in the September 11th attacks. They lied about Iraqi troops murdering Kuwaiti babies in hospital incubators. They lied about the effects of their economic policies, consumer cost reductions from Obamacare, and they lied about the efficacy of COVID policies for health and safety.
Trust science when it is used as a process of testing and challenging ideas with reason and evidence. Don't trust people, and be suspicious of anyone whose only argument is, "because I said so."
Yup, I'm finally trying to get back into the blogging routine after a long hiatus of more than two weeks. I'll try to post more hobby stuff and tech tutorials soon, but Christmas is coming, and I'll have distractions. Stay tuned! Or don't. Merry Christmas either way!
