No, I'm saying oddball philosophies and pseudoscientific beliefs are the default. Even coming up with the scientific method took millennia, and actually trying

No, I'm saying oddball philosophies and pseudoscientific beliefs are the default. Even coming up with the scientific method took millennia, and actually trying to take that seriously is still really unusual in the human species. It may happen to be a clique of strange mostly white men in the USA, but it would be wrong in both directions to label this under "modern America": the founding fathers of the USA were, by both modern and contemporary standards, more than a bit odd. And that was true at almost every point in US (and indeed world, not just USA) history. And it's not just a uniquely American thing, as anyone who points to, say, the Chinese Great Leap Forward's famine will point out. (And that was just the first example that came to my head, basically everywhere and every-when has something weird to pick up on). Science is hard. Thinking critically and logically is hard. As Feynman said: The first principle is that you must not fool yourself – and you are the easiest person to fool.