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As a kid in primary school I was often bullied (even in my own home!) because I was interested in science and technology (my thing then were robots etc.).
During math lectures, the teacher was totally incapable to control the kids.. it was impossible to even hear what she was talking about.
High school was very different... it was XV Mathematical Gymnasy in Zagreb, pupils were selected based on marks in primary school and after passing entrance exam..
I was then very active in popularization of science... astronomy in particular (on local public astronomical observatory), and I know everything about how plebs look at those things..
Yes, popularization is a tricky business and the way it is presented is extremely important, and it must be sometimes individually tailored to particular person or group of persons to achieve positive outcome.. However sometimes nothing is needed to spark the interest, and sometimes absolutely nothing helps.
The problem is in general education... without proper tools you can't even prepare your daily meal..
And incapability to understand new concepts very often results in dismissal ("If I can't understand something, it must be a nonsense because I am clever.. right?" Typical pub-talk (in most cases)).
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