Salk vs. The Bomb

It's no wonder Americans are ambivalent about science. On the one hand, there's Salk. Characteristically, we overreacted--thinking there would be a cure, or vaccine, for everything from bursitis to bipolar disorder. 

On the other hand there's Hiroshima, my friend, and the implication of planetary annihilation. Again, typically, we failed to employ dialectical, rational and integrative thinking, preferring the bipolar route over balance. 

We insist on either utopian optimism and idealism or fear and despair. We can't think clearly about anything because we aren't thinking at all, having reverted to tribalism in everything, even science. It's utterly un-American.