AS WE ENTER INTO OUR SECOND YEAR OF the fight to control the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s clear that misinformation continues to threaten millions of lives. I believe this developing crisis holds critical lessons for the future of skepticism. To bring these lessons into focus, I’d like to begin by considering a far more apocalyptic pandemic from centuries past: The Black Death.
In October of 1347, ships from Eastern ports brought a terrifying, unknown disease to the harbors of Italy. Authorities were quick to confine sick and dying sailors on board their vessels, but the disease still came ashore, where it swiftly annihilated 30 to 40 percent of the population.