Thread by @BillHanage

Scientists are not "divided". If you want to know what scientists really think, ask them and interpret the results scientifically 1/n spectator.co.uk/article/with-s…

What do I mean by that? I mean that obviously people have some disagreements about interpretation of the data and the best way forward, but mostly there is more that they agree on than that they do not 2/n

First identify the people who you should take seriously on the subject. That is those with relevant expertise, in this case infectious disease. No matter how much someone knows about say cell cycles, they aren't qualified for this 3/n

then why not poll them on your proposed policy? Literally ask them to rate it on a scale of 1-10. And see what the results look like. They won't all be one or the other, but a distribution based on the knowledge and priorities of each participant 4/n

And *this* is how you proceed. Now you know what the current expert consensus is on the topic. You are armed with knowledge, not your pre-existing opinion you are shopping to people to find one who agrees with you 5/n

And remember that politicians lead, not scientists. All we can do is tell you the likely results of your actions. Again, take a consensus. Don't follow an oracle that a handful of experts agree with - especially when you don't understand the arguments on either side 6/n

Finally "taking expert scientific advice" does not mean "I talked to a lot of scientists until I found one that said what I wanted to hear"

7/end