This erosion is anecdotally real to me among some friends and family. A pattern I’ve noticed: when people are physically far removed from the people doing this

This erosion is anecdotally real to me among some friends and family. A pattern I’ve noticed: when people are physically far removed from the people doing this scientific research, they trust the science less. Think of it as Scientists Without Borders, but for places in the USA / pick your developed nation. What if more people employed in scientific research lived in places where little scientific research traditionally happened? I’m talking towns without big research universities, and without companies doing much scientific work. Encourage scientists whose work can be done remotely to move there. One massive upside: cost of living is much lower. An NIH grant goes a lot further to house, clothe, and feed a researcher anywhere in Iowa - whether in the same city as a large university or a small rural town - than it does in most populated parts of California. By getting employed scientists living in communities that typically do not have many scientists, they become neighbors and have the spontaneous conversations with people in the community - at cookouts, at town events - which can help restore trust and understanding of science by having direct knowledge of someone doing that work every day. Someone typically trusts their neighbor they’ve lived beside for 15 years more than the new neighbor who just moved in, and there’s likely no easy shortcut to rebuilding that trust, although it can be broken by institutions with a vested interest in breaking trust. Get fast internet everywhere and encourage people who can move to get jobs there, and two parts of the challenges of making this a reality are gone. The ease of meeting and networking with new people when living in a place that’s more densely populated with scientists still wouldn’t quite be solved, though...