With an already weak educational system now focused on getting better scores on the Common Core tests, there is not the time, the educated personnel, or the motivation to teach American students about the world around them. The majority of Americans are not capable of enough critical thinking to understand important scientific concepts, and are conditioned to rely on 'experts', often meaning a religious person, TV host, or radio commentator, most of whom have a strong bias and little or no scientific knowledge. Consequently most Americans reject unpleasant news and fall back on the easy and familiar, as well as 'faith-based' answers, which, unfortunately, are usually wrong. As the situation gets worse, a larger fraction of the population reject any solution requiring sacrifice, and go back to their twitter accounts to make fun of the scientists bringing the unwelcome warnings. We are in a lot of trouble, and the outlook is quite bleak.
With an already weak educational system now focused on getting better scores on the Common Core tests, there is not the time, the educated personnel, or the motivation to teach American students about the world around them. The majority of Americans are not capable of enough critical thinking to understand important scientific concepts, and are conditioned to rely on 'experts', often meaning a religious person, TV host, or radio commentator, most of whom have a strong bias and little or no scientific knowledge. Consequently most Americans reject unpleasant news and fall back on the easy and familiar, as well as 'faith-based' answers, which, unfortunately, are usually wrong. As the situation gets worse, a larger fraction of the population reject any solution requiring sacrifice, and go back to their twitter accounts to make fun of the scientists bringing the unwelcome warnings. We are in a lot of trouble, and the outlook is quite bleak.