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Electrons, the Holy Trinity, and the arrogance of pseudo-skepticism
I spent the last few days in Padua, northern Italy. I was attending the annual CICAP Fest, a 3-day long festival on science and skepticism organized by the Comitato Italiano per il Controllo delle Affermazioni sulle Pseudoscienze (the Italian Committee for the Investigation of Claims of the Pseudosciences). It was a fun excuse to see some old friends, enjoy the sights and culture of one of the great Italian cities, and of course talk about some of my own ideas concerning this year’s theme: “Navigating uncertainty.”
On the last day I was part of an event together with my friend Guido Barbujani, a prominent human population geneticist, and we talked, among other things, about the similarities, if any, between electrons and the Christian concept of the Holy Trinity.
Wait, what? Let me explain. Guido and I were tackling the issue of trust in science, or lack thereof, to be more precise. Why are so many people across the world “skeptical” of the efficacy and even safety of vaccines, masks, and all the rest? I call this attitude “pseudo-skepticism” because it isn’t really skepticism at all, but closer to denialism.
The word “skeptic” comes from the Greek “skeptikos” via the Latin “scepticus,” meaning to inquire, to reflect. Skeptics, then, do not claim to have The Truth, but rather to…
