Rex, engineering is based on science. And the margin of error of experiments in quantum mechanics is far smaller than anything engineers can do.People can tell that bridges (usually) don’t collapse. They can’t tell that vaccines work because the results are not immediate. That suggests a limitation in people’s epistemology, not in science’s.The pressure from society on dentists and engineers is matched by the pressure from peers on more theoretical sciences. And, again, there is no such sharp distinction between theoretical and applied science.No scientist I know says “you wouldn’t understand so I won’t tell you.” They do tell, in published papers. But most in the general public are, unsurprisingly, not equipped to understand them.Yes, sociologically it is necessary to have what you call cheerleading. So long as one doesn’t exaggerate and, moreover, at the same time dismisses other disciplines because one does not understand them (as, say, DeGrasse Tyson does with philosophy).At any rate, doesn’t sound to me like we actually fundamentally disagree.