One of the things that has been true throughout the COVID-19 pandemic is that we citizens of the world are living through a massive science experiment (more accurately, many, many science experiments). This experiment has evolved over the course of the pandemic, even as the virus, our weapons for fighting it, and our human responses and behaviors have evolved. It has of course been frightening, overwhelming, angering, and distressing to find ourselves involuntarily participating in this experiment, especially with the health, well-being, and even lives of ourselves and everyone we care about on the line. It is almost impossible to make sense of all the information that is out there- there is so much conflicting information and so much information that is simply not true. Even the scientists and public health experts who are doing their very best to keep up with the changing face of the pandemic do not have all the answers, so how can the rest of us?
Every year in my biology class, we begin the school year by talking about the nature of science. What is science, actually, other than a class in school that some kids like and some kids find boring? We talk about how scientists work, and use real life examples to demonstrate the process of science and the effect it has had on our day to day lives. This school year, I have found myself referencing various aspects of the pandemic and our transforming understanding of its various facets quite often. Like us all, the students in my classroom are part of the experiment and are experiencing first-hand the effects of the experiment, whether they stop to think about it that way or not.
Today in class we watched a short video that explores the difference between some science terms, including hypothesis, theory, and law. Towards the end of the video, the narrator talks about how our understanding of concepts can change as we learn more, as we continue to use science to gain more knowledge about the world around us. He talks about how this may make some people uncomfortable, or less likely to trust science- "Hey, weren't they just saying the opposite thing last month? How can they be changing their minds now?" - but that instead, it should make us MORE confident in the process. When scientists are willing to examine new data and add that data into their existing frameworks and ideas, that may mean changes in our collective understanding, but that is the scientific process working the way it is supposed to. Revising or adding to our frameworks gives us a more complete collective understanding and we are better able to predict what will happen next and how we can best adapt to improve our lives.
In a big science experiment like the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been many changes in our understanding! Despite the scientific process working as it is supposed to and bringing us new knowledge every day, it has been so frustrating for us. We are the subjects of this experiment and not only are the stakes super high, but we are being asked to change our understanding often- it makes us just want to tune it all out, and drop out of the experiment. Go back to the way things were before the experiment began. Unfortunately, none of use can do that. But we do have choices.
We can choose to tune out and live as though we (and all those we come into contact with) are not subjects in this experiment. We can choose to actively seek out and share only information that aligns with our political stances, whether true or not. We can choose to accept that scientific knowledge is fluid, and do our best to verify that the sources we trust are qualified to be distributing the information they are sharing. We can try (and sometimes fail, but try) to live in such a way that acknowledges our very best current understandings of the state of the pandemic, and how our actions can affect ourselves, our loved ones, and all those we come into contact with. The COVID-19 experiment will continue no matter what choices we make and our choices will affect the outcomes of the experiment, which are still very unclear a year and a half after the pandemic began.
Science at its best is simply a search for knowledge and understanding about the world around us and how it works, based on evidence. We can use the knowledge we gain through science to make choices about how to live, as individuals and as a society. Obviously science will never be complete, because we can never know all there is to know about the world. Scientists will make mistakes, they will learn more to get a bigger and better picture of the world, and as this happens, our collective understanding will necessarily change. As we all struggle through the awful COVID-10 pandemic experiment, I am thankful for the work of those who are using science to do all they can to bring this experiment to an end.
