“Follow the science” is a mantra that politicians and the media often use to diminish and cut short arguments that go against their favored agendas. You don’t want to wear a mask or get a vaccine? Well, you’re not following the science, you moron! You don’t believe in the doomsday scenarios of climate change? Again, you’re not following the science. And you’re not on board with the radical transgender agenda? That’s because you don’t understand the psychological science underlying transgenderism.
I have a degree in biology. I used to work as a laboratory and field biologist, including on EPA and NIH projects. For the past 30 years, I’ve worked as a writer, editor, and writing coach, mainly in the areas of science and medicine. Thus, I like to think that I understand science fairly well. But do I always “follow the science”? It depends on the particular type of science and the particular subject being addressed by the science.
Science is not the Word of God. It is not perfect and infallible. And it is not immune to corruption. Furthermore, not all the sciences are created equal.
There is hard science, and there is soft science. Hard science is firmly based on real-life observations and clear, undeniable facts. And those facts can be successfully and reliably applied to practical actions. Soft science is also based on real-life observations, though the facts are not always undeniable and they may be subject to legitimate debate. Practical actions can be derived from soft science, though those actions may not always be successful.
The hard sciences include physics and chemistry, as well as such fields as engineering and mathematics. The soft sciences are usually considered to include sociology and psychology, but I also put biology, medicine, and meteorology in that category.
If you’re a physicist or engineer and you want to send a spacecraft to the moon or Mars, you have to understand and apply the hard facts, principles, and mathematics of such factors as gravity, mass, propulsion, trajectories, and planetary movement. If you’re a chemist and you want to develop a solution with applications in textiles, cleaning, energy, or other industries, you have to understand and apply the hard facts of how one chemical element interacts with another in certain conditions of pressure, temperature, and volume. The laws of physics and chemistry are very predictable and constant, and if you understand them fully, you will always be successful in developing practical applications based on those laws. (Of course, technical malfunctions remain a possibility in the applications.)
With biology, medicine, meteorology, psychology, and sociology, things are not so predictable and constant, and the “laws” are kind of squishy. Applications that work in some cases may not work in other cases.
Consider vaccines and drugs, for example. A vaccine or drug may be 100% effective in one person, but less effective in another person, and even harmful in a third person. That’s because every human body is different. So the biological “rules” or “laws” that apply to your body may not apply to my body. I happen to have a very strong natural immunity, which I know from 60 years of personal experience living with my body. I don’t need a randomized controlled study to tell me that. My natural immunity would likely be weakened by the artificial concoctions in a vaccine. You may not have a strong natural immunity, so you may derive health benefits from the same vaccine that would make me sick. This is why a government vaccine mandate is illogical, unscientific, and morally and ethically abhorrent. When politicians tell you to “follow the science” and get a vaccine, science actually has nothing to do with that directive. What the politicians are really saying is “follow whatever I say is the science so that I can exercise my fascistic power over your life, regardless of the potential adverse consequences to your health.” Many people have become seriously ill or even died from the COVID vaccines. But in the one-size-fits-all authoritarian mindset, those people don’t count because the “experts” claim that the “science” supports the efficacy and safety of the vaccines.
The biological characteristics and biochemical interactions inside the bodies of humans and other animals are extremely complicated and individualized, and this complexity can never be fully comprehended. There are just too many variables from one individual to another.
A similar complication exists in the world’s weather and climate systems. Over the past hundred years, meteorologists, climate scientists, atmospheric scientists, and oceanographers have made great progress in understanding and forecasting the weather. But there is a vast number of always-changing variables involved in the weather—wind speeds and atmospheric movements at different altitudes, water and chemical cycles and other interactions with the land and ocean, humidity and precipitation, temperatures, pressures, solar radiation, cloudiness, the tilt of Earth’s axis (to name just a few). Predicting the weather accurately from one day to the next is challenging. Predicting long-term climate change with accuracy is impossible—despite the countless climate computer models that scientists play around with. “Following the science” on climate change is not much different than following the revelations of a Ouiji board or tarot cards.
Beyond the issues of uncertainty and variability that affect science, there is the issue of institutional and establishment corruption. Scientists and not perfect little incorruptible gods. They are flawed human beings who are subject to the same corrupting pressures and influences faced by people in other endeavors, from business to politics—such as pressures of greed, power, money, and career advancement. The type of scientific studies that are conducted and published may depend on the government’s funding for particular preferred research topics, as well as on certain personal connections that have been established within a profession. So, right from the start of the “scientific process,” certain areas of study are promoted by political factors, while other areas are ignored. Furthermore, studies may be conducted in a seemingly impartial “blinded” manner, but the interpretation of results may be influenced by political agendas. We all know that academia has a decidedly Leftist bent. You would be naive to think that this Leftism doesn’t seep into science—especially the science interpretations promoted by the largest establishment associations and agencies, such as the American Medical Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The COVID vaccines are a perfect example of the corruption of science by greed. Why are these vaccines being pushed and mandated so much—despite the fact that they are new and experimental and have caused many adverse outcomes? The answer is greed. Greed for money on the part of the big pharmaceutical companies, greed for power on the part of the government, and greed for fame and celebrity status among the scientist media stars. That is not real science. That is just old-fashioned human corruption.
Despite my background in science, I have become very cynical and distrustful about most science and medical stories that I see reported these days. Rather than trust the so-called experts and the questionable findings of their studies, I trust my own personal experiences. I know how my body works better than any doctor or scientist, and I don’t need any scientific experimental data to support my beliefs. There is nothing better and more reliable than the conclusions drawn from decades of personal observations and experience.
Ever since the NASA Apollo moon landings of the late 1960s and early 1970s, which I remember from my childhood, I’ve been a big supporter of space exploration. I’m thrilled and amazed by the scientific and engineering accomplishments of the many spacecraft that have explored the solar system. The scientists and engineers who have developed those spacecraft and carried out those missions have my profound admiration. But when Dr. Fauci and other government bureaucrats and their servants in the media preach to me about following the science regarding the Permanent Pandemic and the ridiculous rules on vaccines, masks, and social distancing, I have one reply to them: Go to Hell, take your damn pseudoscience with you, and leave me alone!
