Years of propaganda leading to blind obedience and a lack of thinking for themselves. Cults of fear over things like Russia, thalidomide, the 70's Ice Age, Avian flu, swine flu, Climate change, WMD's in Iran, SARA, HIV..... A failure to recognise failure is to be expected especially in the sciences. A fear of death, or a need for immortality. A belief that history only started with their birth giving themselves a very short perspective on events.