Other contributors extend the discussion of uncertainty beyond COVID-19, from philosophy to anthropology. Together they make clear that uncertainty need not be paralyzing. As Simon Torracinta observes, the late social scientist Albert O. Hirschman saw it as an opportunity. Perfect planning is impossible, he thought, but that shouldn’t stop us from trying to build a more just world.

CONTRIBUTORS: Sheila Jasanoff, Jana Bacevic, Caley Horan, Annie Howard, Lily Hu, Michael D. Jackson, Jay S. Kaufman, Oded Na'aman, Zeynep Pamuk, Simon Torracinta, Alexandre White

Leading this issue’s forum, Sheila Jasanoff, pioneering scholar of science and technology studies, argues that public policy could benefit from a much more serious acknowledgment of uncertainty. In place of the hubris of technocratic expertise, Jasanoff calls for “technologies of...