• If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants. – Isaac Newton
• No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right; a single experiment can prove me wrong. − Albert Einstein
• Attacks on me, quite frankly, are attacks on science. – Anthony Fauci

I knew an internationally respected expert on liver disease. He was well-known at the medical school for saying, “I didn’t know that,” taking out a notebook, and writing down what someone just said. We wondered whether (a) he felt free to admit ignorance because he was a respected expert, or (b) he became a respected expert because he recognized what he did not know. Perhaps it was a bit of both.

But the point is that this man resembled Newton, Einstein, and other great scientists by being humble enough to admit there were things he did not know. Contrast that with Dr. Fauci. Instead of being able to recognize gaps in his knowledge, and thus taking the first step toward filling those gaps, Fauci asserts everything with absolute certainty – even if it contradicts what he said a short time earlier.

In doing so, Fauci fulfills perfectly the facetious definition of expert: One who is frequently wrong but rarely in doubt. Doubt and Fauci are not close relatives. In fact, they may be total strangers.

Covid is not transmitted person-to-person. Covid is transmitted person to person. There is little cause for concern. There is cause for great concern. Masks and not necessary. Masks are necessary, the more the better. Banning travel from China is not helpful. Banning travel from China is helpful. And so on.

So when Fauci tells us that persons who recovered from Covid must still take the vaccine, despite studies showing the opposite, we have every right to ask, “How long will it be before you reverse yourself on this subject as well?”

As a role model, I much prefer the professor who said, “I didn’t know that,” to the posturing bureaucrat who professes omniscience.

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