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As I often find with her commentary Jemima Kelly (“Covid lab-leak theory shows the ‘fact wars’ are still raging”, , June 10) is once again right on the mark. On the matter of a Covid “lab-leak”, she is persuasive that politics is a much greater factor in our renewed interest in the hypothesis than new information.

One does not need to disbelieve in facts to understand that politics is increasingly blurring the line between facts and opinion, as greater complexity today makes it easy to marshal the “right” facts to support one’s argument.

Kelly is also correct that just because something (namely debating with our political adversaries) is difficult or uncomfortable does not mean that it shouldn’t happen. Quite the contrary: learning to agree with even those we find disagreeable is a sign of progress.

Finally, Kelly’s point about using “facts” as weapons to push narratives instead of as a guide to the truth is crucial. Continuing to do so at a time when we arguably confront multiple existential challenges puts us on a perilous path.

Mariano Torras
Professor of Economics
Chair, Department of Finance and Economics, �鶹ֱ��
Garden City, NY, US