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Science is not a ‘mantra’

If you’re reading this, thank science. It’s brought you from Gutenberg’s press through the glasses that help you see, to the electric light, the internet, and the underlying software that brings you this message, whether online or in hard copy.

Recently, a letter to the editor lamented having to mask. The writer complained, “The mantra of ‘following the science’ will undoubtedly be invoked here to get all the sheep in line.”

That same day, the presidents of the National Academies of Sciences and of Medicine warned they were “alarmed by political interference in science.” As “advisers to the nation on all matters of science, medicine, and public health,” they stressed “the value of science-based decision-making at all levels of government.”

Our nation is at a “critical time in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic,” they said, “with important decisions ahead of us, especially concerning . . . vaccines.” Policies must be informed “by the best available evidence without it being distorted, concealed, or otherwise deliberately miscommunicated.”
They found “alarming” the politicization of science, “particularly the overriding of evidence and advice from public health officials and derision of government scientists.” Such attitudes undermine “credibility of public health agencies and the public’s confidence . . . when we need it most.”

To end the pandemic, decision-making must be based on science, but also must be “sufficiently transparent to ensure public trust in, and adherence to, sound public-health instructions.” Those instructions include wearing masks, regardless of political or religious affiliation.

Science changes constantly, but the nature of science is that it’s self-correcting. It converges on truth. That helps us all. “Any efforts to discredit the best science and scientists threaten the health and welfare of us all,” the statement concluded.

Pete Haug
Colfax

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