Critical Focus | Farewell Reality, Hello Jellybeans

Abstract

Social media are already subverting scientific truth, and our conventional view of the living cell is being replaced with mythical models that look more like blobs and jellybeans. The other afternoon I was doing what we all do, peering intently down the microscope and marveling at the unique spectacles we see, when suddenly the world went away. You remember the real world we knew -- a place with the solidity of science and the certainty of facts. If you weren't sure, you would consult the acknowledged authority who would soon put you right. Or you would look it up. Not anymore. Suddenly that world disappeared. There are no facts any longer, and authorities exist not because the scholarly world acknowledges their wisdom, but because they assure you that's what they are.