(251c) The Political Exploitation of the Scientific Illiteracy of the American Public

Despite the attempt to develop a national emphasis on technology too much of the American public is scientifically illiterate.  This means that not only are they ignorant of too much of the technical world around them but they are psychologically unable to properly process technical information and productively learn about technical issues because of political, religious, and/or other biases, and for other reasons not well understood, but possibly related to a low level contempt for people who have chosen STEMs careers and an unwillingness to accept that such people could know more than they do about anything related to ordinary life.  It almost seems that some people think and/or can be easily convinced that the laws of physics and the laws of nature can be changed or overridden by charismatic rhetoric, signatures on a petition, good public relations skills, or the actions and attitudes of a noisy mob.