> I think it's fair to say that some of the tribalism currently evident in social and political argument is expressed as a broad based distrust and disregard for science, but that doesn't seem to be based on any rational analysis or actual knowledge, but more on internally propagated mythology.
You know that, I know that. People who are not really into science/tech don't know that. Most people know only what they hear on the news. And what they hear is that every single thing causes cancer - on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, because that same thing cures cancer on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. What they hear is that their government panicks about some flu, buys shots, those shots are not used and then questions are asked, politicians lose seats, etc.
Add to that that almost every single company is out there to fuck you over (mom&pop are the worst, actually), there's shit ton of FUD in media about everything related to biology (GMOs, vaccines, drugs, etc.), and are you really going to tell me there is no loss of general trust in scientific establishment? Go ask your non-tech family members and friends.
But yeah, it's easier to just assume instead that all "those people" must be just stupid.