I think that in some cases, the better someones grasp of science, the stronger their need to reject aerosol transmission. Because if they accept that it's a dominant mode of transmission and really understand what that means, the implications are far-reaching and incredibly frightening. For the layperson, it's just "Oh, so like coughs but further yeah? Well I'll take extra vitamins LOL" and they get on with their life of episodic illness, possibly debilitating, but with (to them) unclear vectors. For someone with a good grasp of science, if they really understand what almost every respiratory infection having airborne potential means, than they understand that if true, almost all of the modern indoor spaces we have would be unsafe without massive IAQ upgrades- and in many cases those upgrades might not even be physically possible. If airborne transmission is dominant = Nearly all of our indoor physical infrastructure is dangerous and obsolete without costly upgrades. That is a massive, massive social, political, and financial upheaval to contemplate- and people able to see the big picture implications, rejecting it at a visceral level, when a comfortable, nostalgic paradigm of handwashing and coughing into their elbow is right there for them to cling to, is somewhat understandable. It will take a long time, and a great deal more work before many come around- and many never will. Semmelweis's findings were not accepted during his lifetime- and those were a comparatively minor upheaval.
