According to Clarke's First Law, "When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong."
With all due respect to Arthur C. Clarke, I think science education is the only thing standing between us and even bigger scams and absolute chaos in the streets.
What is understood by a scientist isn't so far ahead from what the layperson understands these days compared to when Clarke wrote that.