Captain Haddock wrote:Dodgy science? Science is science is science. Fact and data based.
The interpretation is the difficult bit?
Nope. For beer you need hops, starch, yeast and water. But the different varieties and qualities of hops, starches, yeasts and waters will affect the quality and flavour of your brew; but sure as hell if you then run your brew through a dirty muslin bag, you’ll get a dirty beer.
What? ‘Epidemiological modelling isn’t like home brewing’, you say! Well, how about weather forecasting (see, e.g., Dr John Lee, BBC World at One, 12 May 2020)? There have been many demolitions of Ferguson's play kit, but this is a decent summary of some of its history:
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/six-questions-that-neil-ferguson-should-be-asked
Of course, it’s not Ferguson’s fault: death’s his business, so the bigger the figure… No, the fault’s with the incompetents who ‘followed the science’, trashed a way of life, and won’t own up to their mortal, catastrophic mistake, but carry on regardless with their discredited policy.