Through the lenses of the pandemic: three short reflections on science policy and citizens' rights

Citizens, scientists, and institutions should not miss the opportunity to cultivate the awareness toward a sound epistemology of uncertainty. Since the beginning of the COVID crisis there has been a shift in public discussion and the media from thinking that we should listen to scientists and do what they suggest – according to the science policy model of “science speaks truth to power” – to the disappointed discovery that scientific uncertainty exists and scientific disagreements can be radical, with the consequence that decision makers can ‘cherry pick’ results to do what they want. Scientific uncertainty does not mean arbitrariness and does not allow arbitrary political decisions.