Follow the Science!

“So it’s easy to criticize,” Fauci added. “But they’re really criticizing science, because I represent science. That’s dangerous.”


In the years of the plague came an emissary from the capital to the hinterlands, journeying along neglected roads.

“Greetings, O Emissary!” called a village headman. “Is this the year the fabled power is restored?”

“No, my rustic friend. Be patient. For the Holy See warns of a new variant troubling this fallen world.”

“O, Emissary! But the children hunger and shiver–“

“Silence! Do you question the science?!”

Trembling, the headman fell to his knees and repeatedly struck his forehead against the earthen floor.

“No, O, Emissary! I follow the science! And I revere the emissary of the See of St. Fauci, which represents the science!”

“Be still, then,” the emissary cautioned. “And don five masks in penance!”

Posted in Uncategorized

5 Comments

  • Great hearing from you again after… 2½ years…?!

  • Yeah, I know. I intended to revive the blog, but then my weekly column at Reason turned to twice a week, followed by three times a week. Then they added a print column. I also started picking up outside work. This is all good, but not so much for my personal blog!

  • I, for one, love reading you in @Reason

    Fauci is trying to shut down debate by playing the Appeal to Authority card. (Hey it worked for Plato)

    He forgets what science is about.

    “Like evolutionary ecologies, liberal systems are centerless and self–regulating and allow no higher appeal than that of each to each in an open-ended, competitive public process (a game). Thus, a market game is an open-ended, decentralized process for allocating resources and legitimizing possession, a democracy game is an open-ended, decentralized process for legitimizing the use of force, and a science game is an open-ended, decentralized process for legitimizing belief. Much as creatures compete for food, so entrepreneurs compete for business, candidates for votes, and hypotheses for supporters. In biological evolution, no outcome is fixed or final—nor is it in capitalism, democracy, science. There is always another trade, another election, another hypothesis. In biological evolution, no species, however clever or complex, is spared the rigors of competition—nor are the participants in capitalism, democracy, science. No matter who you are, you must conduct your business in the currency of dollars, votes, or criticism—no special fiat, no personal authority.” – Jonathan Rauch, Kindly Inquisitors

  • Fauci played the Appeal to Authority card. It is not the trump card he think it is.

    “Like evolutionary ecologies, liberal systems are centerless and self–regulating and allow no higher appeal than that of each to each in an open-ended, competitive public process (a game). Thus, a market game is an open-ended, decentralized process for allocating resources and legitimizing possession, a democracy game is an open-ended, decentralized process for legitimizing the use of force, and a science game is an open-ended, decentralized process for legitimizing belief. Much as creatures compete for food, so entrepreneurs compete for business, candidates for votes, and hypotheses for supporters. In biological evolution, no outcome is fixed or final—nor is it in capitalism, democracy, science. There is always another trade, another election, another hypothesis. In biological evolution, no species, however clever or complex, is spared the rigors of competition—nor are the participants in capitalism, democracy, science. No matter who you are, you must conduct your business in the currency of dollars, votes, or criticism—no special fiat, no personal authority.” – Jonathan Rauch, Kindly Inquisitors

  • Excellent point! Fauci at some point morphed from a scientist seeking knowledge to a priest dispensing truth — at least in his own mind. It’s not necessary to endorse everything his critics say of him to recognize that nobody is a font of capital-T “Truth” and that there must always be room for disagreement and new information.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *