This semester (Fall 2025), I’m taking a course to learn how to write better as a scientist, and I’m already feeling a bit freaked out by it.

For the record, my fears surrounding my Writing in the Sciences (WiS) course have nothing to do with whether or not I think I can do it. I don’t think I’ll have any trouble in this course. Rather, it’s just starting to dawn on me just how badly the Trump administration’s fucked up our healthcare and scientific research so far. 

That said, the problem itself isn’t exactly with the Trump administration. It’s not even with the people of this country who voted Trump back in. Rather, I lay at least 50% of the blame on our “intellectual leaders”: celebrity scientists, doctors, and science influencers who’ve tried (and ultimately failed for reasons I’ll soon discuss) to effectively educate the general public on science. I also lay a good chunk of blame at the feet of teachers who’ve no issue calling their students “stupid” and “slow” for struggling with STEM subjects- or any subject for that matter- and making them feel completely inadequate and inferior. 

In other words, the MAGA movement isn’t a root cause of our country’s distrust in science and institutions as a whole. Instead it’s a symptom. 

What is the root cause, then?