Science as Religion

The plague has had a strange political side to it from the very start. Not only has politicians and bureaucrats jumped at the opportunity to turn totalitarian, a large group of ordinary people have eagerly accepted all mandates and recommendations. The enthusiasm for draconian rules have been so strong that politicians in many cases have appeared reluctant relative to the general public. Recommendations were often promoted to law, backed by the full force of the state, due to popular demand.

This can be explained in part as a result of intense propaganda, with non-stop coverage, and video renditions of grandma's slow and agonizing death. But it cannot explain the fact that the left was so much more willing to submit to this new regime than was the right and libertarian leaning population. I was therefore curious to see what insights I might find in this article titled Liberals' Bizarre Fear Of An Unmasked Nation. However, the author has no answers. He's as befuddled as everybody else.

The author's first point of confusion is the idea that the mandates were based on science. He further argues that science works through consensus that constantly shift based on new insights and understandings. However, this is not science, but the belief in science as a source of indisputable knowledge. The basic idea is that the experts work tirelessly to understand the world, and we who are not anointed scientists must obey their rules without question.

Real science doesn't work this way. It can at best produce figures and charts. Value statements as to what should be done is not part of science because recommendations on complex issues cannot be drawn directly from scientific data, especially in cases where there's no consensus. Furthermore, popular demand for some draconian measure or other is as unscientific as it gets. Such measures bypass the science entirely. It's all based on intuition and feelings rather than hard data.

Once we realize this, it's fairly easy to see that the proponents of draconian rules are acting in ways very similar to religious devotees. They love the perceived certainty that comes with expert advice. They don't have to think. They must merely obey. The more rules, the better, because the need to think and act responsibly is in their mind reduced with every draconian measure imposed.

This explains the popular demand for totalitarian measures, and also the reluctance to give up on such measures when rules are relaxed. Any rollback of rules and regulations is perceived as a loss by the devotees of science. They react therefore like religious zealots, demanding the perpetuation of rules that were once part of the official doctrine but was removed by some new priest with a different interpretation of the facts.

Further evidence of the religious dimension to the plague can be found in the wide acceptance of the vaccine. The devotees of science sees the vaccine as pure science, and nothing proves them more worthy than an injection of this sacred serum into their bodies. The similarities between this and the ritual of Christian communion is striking. One is about the injection of science and the other is about the symbolic consumption of Jesus.

With this in mind, it's not difficult to see why the left is more eager to embrace science based despotism than conservatives and libertarian leaning people. Most conservatives already have a religion, and libertarians are opposed to any kind of priesthood, be it science based or religious. These groups are not in need of some new religion. However, left leaning people tend to reject all conservative traditions, including religion, which leaves them rudderless in an uncertain world. This is too much uncertainty for most people to handle, and they turn to politics as an alternative. Experts become their priests, and rules and regulations become their scripture.

Mask of the beast