> the political class, who don't need to understand STEM because they use rhetoric, persuasion, and political manipulation to get what they want. And right no

> the political class, who don't need to understand STEM because they use rhetoric, persuasion, and political manipulation to get what they want. And right now, we are witnessing this line of thinking crashing and burning up, as you can't persuade a virus. You _have to_ understand the underlying science, and not make this category error. There's no away around it. Unfortunately, persuasive but ignorant leaders have convinced many people otherwise, so it's not until there's a real issue that this lack becomes apparent by example. I'm sure that "rhetoric, persuasion, and political manipulation" have their usages, but to think that they're "all that you need" is what's causing issues in the countries that are handing COVID badly. There will be more examples of this kind of problem before the 21st century is over.