Makes me think of this upcoming competition to find fossils that are not surrounded by the rocks that science expects.

I suspect a lot of people who believe (some subset of) the crazy nonsense are actually science inclined. But we (often/used to) teach science as about great people heroically defying the consensus and triggering a paradigm shift that changes the world. And that looks a lot more like vaccine denialism than pipetting samples for 50 hours. Some of the community spaces are clearly interested in thinking about the world, and there's a self-isolating effect of asking someone

"Why is there a tree that's fossilized across 5 different epochs of bedrock?"

and being told you're a crank. Then layer on the grifters.

So yes; do remember to talk people through the facts before labeling them a conspiracy theorists, and focus on the shared amazement at how weird/complicated/nuanced the data is. Ask lots of questions!

When I was a senior in high school, I needed one more science credit for graduation, so I took Human Anatomy. It was taught by a young hippie (it was the 70s), who also taught the exact same course at the local community college.

It was a great class, with lots of cool labs, experiments, and dissections. We had to memorize every bone, and every muscle. It was one of the hardest classes I've ever taken, but also the most fun.

That class was filled with future doctors and nurses, so none of them were whining about how they'd never use this stuff. But I wasn't on a medical track (I was a music history major), and I could have probably said that (I didn't), but I have used the knowledge I gained in that class literally every single day of my life, decades later. Easily one of the best classes I took in my entire life.

the problem is most emphatically not people skipping stuff in school, the problem is that the world is filled with people who have literally researched how to mislead and manipulate people. The only classes i think would actively help protect you against this is history and political science.

We can't expect everyone to be educated in every field so they can recognize misinformation, what we need is for everyone to recognize fascism and general authoritarian methods.

I studied history (and by that I mean I liked to watch documentaries) and as a kid I saw educational cartoons and Anime (yes anime) that showed how there was a huge backlash against telephone and telegraphy when they first came out. With farmers blaming telegraph wire for destroying crops or crop diseases and they would sometimes even sabotage the wires and poles.

When I heard of the 5G bullshit that was literally what came to mind... it is incredible how eternal this form of ignorance is.

the problem is that critical thinking should be a reflex and not a mental effort

I will argue this is not the problem. It's that vaccines were too good in their effectiveness. A victim of their own success.

The problem is not and has not been science. The problem is messaging.

This is the same reason why anti-vax is so popular, you think that's about science? It's idiots like RFK Jr and Trump have the ear of people. It's all messaging folks.

A person is smart. People are dumb.

the bigger problem is that some teachers are so mentally checked out that they make those subjects actively unappealing. I wonder what makes them that way...

Your garden and kitchen = biochemistry and biology. Home improvement, crafting and anything to do with the trades = physics. Household cleaners, gas, automotive chemicals and plastics = chemistry + healthcare = more organic chemistry and biology. Just dealing with everyday life is science.

Look I think one of the fundamental problems here is we have a cultural divide between people with thousand dollar degrees and everyday people. When someone says "I'm not going to be a scientist" they're probably thinking "I can't afford to pay thousands of dollars to pay for a degree" whilst actual scientists are wondering "why don't people pursue this subject more?" Money. Pure and simple. Real science = cooking, building something, worrying about that scum in your sink, trying to figure out the best cleaner that won't set off an allergic reaction, and yes looking into the side effects of vaccines and assorted drugs. You want people to think scientifically then call them scientists. Don't create an economic barrier for those who want to pursue knowledge. And don't treat science like it only happens in labs. It's an every day process. Science = the study of nature and everybody can do that every day. You don't need an expensive degree to do that. So being a "scientist" shouldn't be limited to those in white coats, getting grants and have a dozen plaques on their wall that cost a couple thousand dollars to buy.

If smart people are so smart, why aint they in charge? Checkmate nerds!

I've seen a lot of the counter balance to this which is STEM folk not having respect for the humanities, rendering them empathetically underdeveloped.

I'm so glad that people finally start to grasp, how bad excessive specialisation really is.

society is healing

People need to learn how to build a "firewall" for their brain.

Well the new world order is what the people in power want, but they only need smartphones and tv to do it. No chips in the brain needed, people are idiots.