America's second President, John Adams, once said, "Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." He lived in a time when most people agreed with this, and had been taught to use reason to evaluate information.

There is something very soothing about reason and science. They give you a sense of certainty, even when you're aware of how much you don't know. You're confident that the knowledge is out there, and you look for it. You don't jump at wild theories and fantastic notions.

When you know something about biological science, you're less panicky about things like COVID-19. You don't have to be an M.D. or a nurse or a Ph.D epidemiologist. You just have to have paid attention in high school and kept an interest in science since then.

When people feel helpless and confused, they're always hunting for some magical secret that will make everything come together and make sense. Without reasoning and without basic knowledge of science, this magical secret can be almost anything. Once a person has found it, they invest the magical secret with so much emotional energy, they can't let go. They become self-righteous and morally superior, thinking that they've finally found the real truth and all those sheeple out there following the mainstream media are a bunch of gullible fools.

But there are no magical secrets. The virus follows the natural laws of science just like everything else around us.

Here are some stubborn facts.

There are millions of viruses, and they're around us all the time. Our bodies are teeming with microbes, viruses, and not-so-microscopic creatures like dust mites--they're inside us, on our skin, in our hair, in our clothes, our furniture, everywhere. Mostly, we co-exist with them.

But viruses aren't, technically speaking, "alive." And they mutate--constantly. Some mutate much more easily, and they all mutate faster when they encounter something new in their environment--like a new host (human beings, when up to now they've been inhabiting bats). Why is there no vaccine for the common cold? Because cold viruses mutate so fast and so constantly, any vaccine would stop being effective after one season.

This is why COVID-19 was not made by people in some sinister laboratory somewhere. It's not doing anything unusual or unexpected, for a new virus. It's doing what viruses do naturally, all on their own. Imagining that someone somewhere "created" COVID-19 is just a way of trying to feel in control of the situation. After all, if a human being "made" COVID-19, then they must understand how it works and how to stop it, right?

Alas, nobody has that knowledge. COVID-19 has appeared so suddenly and spread so fast, our ability to research and study it can't keep up. Someday we will understand it, but we don't live in the world of Star Trek where we can analyze a virus instantly by waving a tricorder. Science can't be rushed.

There is a scientific principle known as Occam's Razor (from William of Occam, a Medieval genius). This states that the most likely explanation for any mystery is the simplest and most obvious one. All these convoluted conspiracy theories fail that test. There are very few true secrets in this world and what "conspiracies" exist are right out in the open. Most people just don't bother to pay attention.

In times like these, I often ask myself what John Adams, one of my idols and personal heroes, would say, and what he would do if he were here now. After all, he lived through two revolutions (in America and France), years of war, the creation of a new country, and multiple epidemics of dreadful diseases, including smallpox. I can only speculate, but I imagine his advice would be to stay calm, think things through, and do whatever is necessary to serve the greater good.

Good advice, I think, for any time, however dark it may seem.

Inanna Arthen