LAUSR

In thinking about the current state of COVID-19-related modeling I am reminded of the Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote ‘‘water, water, every where, nor any drop to drink.’’ Today its ‘‘models, models every where, which one to believe.’’ Every day COVID-19 related models are reported in the newspapers and on the television. Model predictions have become an everyday topic of conversation in households and among coworkers. People have become armchair modelers or critics. Models are often chosen to support a political narrative. There comes a point with having more and more models, those predictions have less and less value. Here are some musings I’ve had on the current state of COVID-19 Modeling and Reporting.