Humans have evolved for thousands of years to be social creatures, and to judge the merits of things that they may not understand by the characteristics of the

Humans have evolved for thousands of years to be social creatures, and to judge the merits of things that they may not understand by the characteristics of the person championing them. That's not modern mass culture, it's the way humans operate. I personally think it's also why many scientists fail to convince people versus (comparatively) charismatic novices.