'Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts' argued Richard Feynman, one of the greatest scientists of the last fifty years. He wished to promote the idea that the best science respects no authority and is not a learnt set of facts, but a rigorous method of questioning in search of a better account. Yet in the pandemic governments and commentators propounded the opposite, that experts should be followed without question. Feynman proposed that good science guesses at theories and then looks to see whether they are supported by the data. But in public debate there is rarely clarity about the theory and little focus on the data.
Should we see science not as an agreed body of knowledge but a method to improve our account of the world? Should science never been seen as an authority? Or are authorities necessary since we cannot all test all of the theories all of the time?