With knowledge comes responsibility that a lot of people don't want when it's going to upset their life's routine that they've become comfortable with.

I think this describes the essence of all social problems. The illusion of control that strengthens in routine and the establishment of a comfort zone keeps us from looking at the realities that disturb this. When disaster strikes and we can't avoid it any longer we refuse to learn from the experience, desperately trying to go back to our safe haven and hope it was just a terrible nightmare...