[j9461701]

I think typical, reasonable people do fall for this stuff, though not because they're scared. They fall for it because it's all they ever hear about the issue.

Even the smartest of us can't know everything, and so if all you ever hear about say... IQ tests is "They're bunk, they don't test anything, they're gibberish, they're just an excuse for ivory tower academics to feel better than us" - it becomes a part of your natural understanding of the world, which you don't even think to question. The lies become part of the cultural fabric, and indistinguishable from truth without conducting your own research on what the scientists are actually saying. What you don't know you don't know is the most dangerous stuff of all.