Scientism has become so ubiquitous that it now influences every sphere of life from politics to economic policy to spirituality. And, like every dominating ideology that has imposed itself on the world, scientism has its own shamans and wizards.

The practical upshot of this is that, because scientism uses science to resolve conflicts outside its proper domain, conversations about whether it is right to disinvite an unvaccinated sibling from Thanksgiving dinner, for example, frequently devolve into the rhetorical “What, don’t you believe in science?”

JULIE PONESSE