ABSTRACT
During the coronavirus pandemic, one notices a trend in which science is increasingly doubted or rejected in casual, off-handed ways. This chapter looks at one quotation as representative of this trend, and offers a psychological interpretation of the attitude of mind that it reflects. It explores a phenomenon that has become more pronounced and frequent during the coronavirus epidemic. In the consulting room, on the news, and in conversations on the street, one notices an increasing trend in which once-unquestioned assumptions of the scientific worldview are doubted or rejected in casual, off-handed ways. The chapter briefly touches on the psychological meaning of vaccination. It considers the symbolic meaning of experimentation. Literally and practically, experimentation is the application of a structured, impersonal intervention designed to ascertain the factual answer to some question.
