It is stunning to me that a top researcher at an Ivy League school literally cannot think properly about his subject area at all, and furthermore has no compunction admitting this publicly.

But that has been the case for the entire pandemic, hasn’t it? Rarely do I find common cause with Cowen, but in this he’s totally right. Our experts have been almost worthless during this crisis and I wish I could figure out why.

Some of the feats that Zeynep Tufekci and I have achieved are the equivalent of entering the Australian Open and winning it, which should just not be remotely possible. It just should not be a thing that can or does happen. I think part of if it is that academia, in many areas, has been optimized for appearing right rather than being right. And this is exactly the wrong way to handle a pandemic. But other factors I am still considering.