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It's time to end the "denier" narrative.In our culture right now, a small group of people believe, for no reason, that they get to decide what truth is. Once they have decided, "the science is settled," and the rest of us are not to question their narrative.Those who question anyway are called "deniers." Officials get angry and condescending and engage in name-calling instead of rationally dealing with concerns of skeptics.Is it any wonder that we don't trust them?So often, what they were absolutely *sure* was true, what they based their proclamations and policies on, turned out not to be true at all. Do they admit they were wrong, say that they did the best they could with what they knew? No. They ignore what happened, shift the narrative, and blame the people who didn't believe them.This happens over and over, which -- naturally! -- leaves people wary. They can point out example after example where officials said one thing and reality turned out quite differently. ("Two weeks to flatten the curve" and so many others)It's their job, as leaders, to admit when they're wrong and to entertain valid concerns. It's their job to hear their constituents and consider alternative points of view.Instead, they sneer that the American public is stupid, that we just need to "trust the experts" (which ones?? they do not all agree!), and that anyone who doesn't follow their narrative is a denier, thinking like a Neanderthal, a nut, and so on.It becomes a vicious cycle. They make sweeping proclamations that don't come true. The public loses trust and becomes skeptical. They get angry that the public isn't listening and make more (different) sweeping proclamations and engage in name calling. The public becomes more skeptical, less trusting, and angry. And so on.If they want the public to trust them, continuing to insult people is not the way to go. Stand up, admit when they are or were wrong, be willing to listen, treat people with respect. That's the only way forward.If they can't do that -- and very likely, they won't -- we'll circumvent them and continue to do what we think is right, sharing ideas directly with each other, and considering them mostly irrelevant and out of touch. I hope it's what they wanted, because it's what they've got.