‘Following the science’ is a phrase that we have heard a lot of this year, but what does it actually mean? Over the past year, science has shifted from a mode of inquiry to a form of authority that you are not allowed to question in fear of being labelled ‘anti-science’. To understand how and why this has occurred, we spoke to philosopher and writer Matthew B. Crawford, who has a full-length piece in UnHerd on this very subject.
// Timecodes // 00:24 - Intro 01:43 - Political legitimacy in a pandemic 04:41 - Science vs scientism 10:01 - The crisis of scientific authority 12:44 - Commercial science 16:10 - Climate-gate 19:18 - Scientific and moral knowledge monopoly 21:21 - Morality as a public health problem 27:21 - Over-scepticism 30:47 - China 33:38 - Politics of fear 35:47 - Society post-pandemic