A science lesson for Trump

This is a statement from our president last week during a Fox News interview: “Dr. Fauci is a nice man, but he’s made a lot of mistakes. They’ve been wrong about a lot of things, including face masks. Maybe they’re wrong, maybe not. A lot of them said don’t wear a mask, don’t wear a mask. Now they’re saying wear a mask. A lot of mistakes were made, a lot of mistakes.”

President Donald Trump obviously did not pay attention in science class. So as a sixthgrade science teacher, I will offer a basic lesson.

Fauci uses what is called the scientific method of research in which a problem is identified, relevant data is gathered, a hypothesis is formulated from this data, and the hypothesis is empirically tested. As you conduct experiments you can change your inference, or hypothesis, to fit your results.

While using this method scientists will analyze the data and draw conclusions. They will accept or reject their hypothesis or modify the hypothesis as necessary, and then reproduce the experiment until there are no discrepancies between observations and theory.

That is what scientists like Fauci do. They will make inferences that are incorrect because that is part of the process. But they will admit that they are incorrect and make the proper changes. The president could learn a lot from a person like Fauci. But he won’t because as the saying goes, ignorance is bliss.

Todd Huck, Edwards