Pandemic Myths & Memes

The spheres are in commotion
The elements in harmony
She blinded me with science
And hit me with technology

—She Blinded Me With Science, Thomas Dolby (1982)

Call us jaded, but we feel compelled to protest the excessive use and abuse of myths, memes, and tropes by media, marketers, and politicians—particularly during the pandemic.

“We’re all in this together.”

This cringeworthy sentiment from the solidarity anthem in Disney’s 2006 High School Musical quickly grew tiresome. What’s more, the mantra fails as an expression of empathy. Cultural, geographic, and income inequality ensures that Americans experience the pandemic and quarantine in vastly different ways. Frontline healthcare workers don’t feel they’re “in this together” with Zoom-enabled tech-firm employees (semi-)working from home. The masked-and-gloved Instacart grocery delivery driver doesn’t feel connected with the marketing pro answering the door in his shorts. The single parent unable to work a salon or restaurant job feels little in common with a teacher who presents lessons online and continues to receive a paycheck. Practically overnight, some 36 million Americans are unemployed. At best, the statement sounds trite and doesn’t ring true. At worst, it shows disrespect for the plight of the less-privileged.

“Follow the science.”

This politicized pontification pops up everywhere—from virtue-signaling lawn signs to speeches by pandemic-pandering politicians. “Following science” requires an understanding of its limitations. Science seldom delivers just one conclusion. To the contrary, scientists have created conflicting models and presented differing views throughout the pandemic—for the simple reason that it’s a novel coronavirus. By definition, it’s a new coronavirus that did not previously exist. But deadlines loom and the news cycle never rests. So, talking heads, health officials and politicians continue to invoke the authority of science.

But was Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti scientific when he required face coverings on golf courses? Was Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer making sense when she outlawed lawn mowing and motorboating? Did the World Health Organization follow science when it declared in January that it “found no clear evidence” of human-to-human transfer? What was Dr. Anthony Fauci thinking when he condoned Tinder hookups? And what should we say about President Donald Trump suggesting Americans ingest or inject bleach to combat the virus?

Even if the COVID-19 science were certain—and it’s not—politicians should not indiscriminately follow scientists during a pandemic any more than they should blindly follow economists during an economic crisis. The incomplete science available in the early stages of a rapidly evolving pandemic should not dictate public policy—that’s for the people and their elected representatives to decide.

Alex Berezo, a microbiologist who debunks junk science for the American Council on Science and Health, puts it this way: “The science on marijuana ... is clear. It’s bad for you. But a ban doesn’t make legal or financial sense, which is why ‘the science’ was overruled in favor of legalization in many states. The bottom line is that there are very few, if any, issues in which science is the only relevant factor.”

The relationships are intricate among science, governance, liberty, safety and public policy. Following what scientists say when confirmed science is scarce about a new virus ultimately devalues science in general.

“New normal”

Which brings us to the latest Luckbox. An internet search for “new normal after coronavirus” yields more than two billion results. That’s a lot of feckless forecasting. In a Gallup poll after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, 63% of Americans felt certain the world would never return to the way it was. They were right, but for the wrong reason. Everything is always changing, and these days globalization and technology are speeding up the process. Still, life did return to “normal.” Americans fly on planes, work in skyscrapers, attend arena-sized events and eat in restaurants—as they most certainly will again, post-pandemic.

As Luckbox examines what lies ahead for certain economically sensitive industries—like the airlines—the editorial team is sworn to avoid the overused phrase “new normal.” Call it “The New Order” instead. If the offending phrase somehow slips into the issue, let us know.

After all, we’re all in this together.

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