Laboratory

The COVID pandemic of 2020 raised doubts in some people about whether its origin could be a laboratory — meaning, made by humans. This also means it could have served as a weapon, or, as some believe, it might have been a test to observe how people react and to control them.

I do not want to argue either against science or against conspiracy theories as such. But my point may end up sounding critical of how science is practiced. One of the principles of science is due process — and scientists must follow it. We are expected to trust that process, but there must also be checks to verify it: governments must oversee it, and independent organizations must have access to investigate.

The point I want to make is this: we should avoid believing something simply because it is labeled science, as if it were impossible for someone to hide behind the mask of science and act in bad faith. We must always be cautious. We have plenty of examples of how governments and supposedly independent organizations failed — and caused serious crises. Take the 2007 real estate crisis: regulations were loosened, allowed by lawmakers, perhaps due to corruption or questionable political beliefs. Organizations rated things as safe simply because they could not conceive of acting differently toward powerful companies.

Science is not a religion. It should not be followed blindly. Science has produced the most reliable knowledge in human history — and precisely because of that, we must hold it to the highest standard of transparency.