Informiertes Vertrauen in Wissenschaft: Lehren aus der COVID-19 Pandemie für das Verständnis naturwissenschaftlicher Grundbildung (scientific literacy)

Informed trust in science is necessary for the ‘interfaces’ within the flow of knowledge between citizens’ everyday understanding of the pandemic and the dynamically evolving state of knowledge in the sciences. This is the core thesis of this paper. Without science, the COVID-19 pandemic can neither be understood nor controlled, and for this to happen, citizens must engage with science based knowledge. However, such knowledge is dynamic (evolving and intertwined with normative issues). Furthermore, science based knowledge competes with pseudoscientific contributions. As non-experts, laypersons must therefore decide whom to trust. The paper describes the concept of functional scientific literacy as a prerequisite of informed trust. The knowledge bases for judgments of informed trust should be taught in school and judging rationally about the trustworthiness of science-related knowledge claims should be practiced.