The GOP/MAGA opposition to science is based on theocracy, class resentment, future shock, social and economic despair, and on not understanding how to use a 2025 phone (which is a bigger problem than you think).
That doesn't mean it's wrong.
I have worked in medical and IT related academia, industry, and government. I have seen important topics go unexplored -- because governmental research funding is driven by politics, tenure goals, avoiding difficult or intractable topics, seeking areas that have short-term opportunities, and a strong aversion to failure.
Osteoarthritis is very common -- but gets relatively little research because we don't understand it. Cognitive disorders, including autism and schizophrenia, are very common but we know little about natural history, longitudinal course, and etiology. Even the very definitions of neuropsychiatric disorders are overdue for review and revision.
And these are only the areas that come quickly to min for a hasty blog post.
It won't lesson MAGA/GOP hatred of science, but there are good reasons to seek public input into research priorities through surveys and interviews. Public input could, for example, be added as a weighting factor in government funded science -- particularly in health care.
American science has a long road to recovery and it will need support from those who are not utterly opposed to reason. There is an opportunity to make it better.
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