But so does pseudoscience. The consequences of scientific illiteracy are far more dangerous in our time than in any that has come before. The method of science is far more important than the findings of science.
Science can be the golden road out of poverty and backwardness for emerging nations.
Science alerts us to the perils introduced by our world-altering technologies. Science teaches us about the deepest issues of origins, natures, and fates of our species, of life, or our planet, of the Universe. The values of science and the values of democracy are concordant, in many cases indistinguishable. If we don't practice these tough habits of thought, we cannot hope to solve the truly serious problems that face us and we risk become a nation of suckers, a world of suckers, u for grabs by the next charlatan who saunters along. Skepticism must be a component of the explorer's toolkit, or we will lose our way.