> Schekman, who calls Mullis’s Nobel a “complete fluke,” compares him to the man in the White House. “He’s the molecular biology equivalent of Donald Trump in terms of his personal behavior,” he says.<p>Priceless.<p>The key to that ahole's life is that his use of LSD damaged his sense of morality and comprehension of the truth. As glorious Finland have demonstrated, the ability to learn how to know when something is true or not is within not only our human capacity, but within a pedagogic system. On the negative side of this human ability, we can also choose to believe any horsesh_t our minds latch onto, as we can always to choose to reject any evidence we deem "inconsequential".<p>The general populace's inability to recognize a liar then makes them susceptible to charismatic fools and charlatans. That the power structures of our societies reward and protect those "accomplished" tricksters is another layer to the problem.<p>We are all the sum-total of the moral choices of our lifetime, which have an inertia in opposition to our ability to veer in a different direction.<p>As Don Juan tells Castaneda, the use of "power plants" (hallucinagenic drugs) is overall bad for the body and should be avoided. Don Juan only used them on Carlos because Carlos was so stubborn, and needed the jolt, if the book's premises are to be believed.