The familiarity of our recurrent French influenza for years after the holidays does not paralyze us despite their virulence. We expect it, we are preparing for it. They belong to our national landscape and are part of our seasonal chestnut trees. Conversely, the strangeness of this new virus, coming from a country as far in distance as in customs, arouses our fears.
As public health issues rarely reach an absolute level of certainty, our fears are heightened. Why do the words of a doctor or a health organization never seem reassuring enough to us? Because science is characterized by intrinsic uncertainty.
The scientific argument being of the form: " A is true, as long as we have not proven the opposite or made adjustments to A ", the simple fact of considering that a truth can be invalidated or modified as a risk. The risk of fear, and the human mind riddled with cognitive biases immediately believing
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