[rprospero]

I would completely disagree. One scientific fact can lead to many more with proper scientific thinking. Start with the Schrödinger equation and you get Newtonian mechanics, the uncertainty principle, Fermi's Golden rule, etc.

On the reverse side, no amount of scientific knowledge helps if the person doesn't have a scientific mindset. My partner had a doctor perform 27 blood sugar tests, each of which returned a perfectly healthy blood sugar level. The doctor then prescribed diabetes medication that exacerbated the anaemia that the doctor had NOT diagnosed. I don't question the doctor's education - she knows more about the human body than I ever will. She knew that the blood sugar reading had ruled out a diagnosis of diabetes. But she lacked the scientific thinking to move on to a new hypothesis after her original had been rejected.