Possibly you're unfairly conflating scientific knowledge and technical expertese with rationality: plenty of discoveries have been made without the aid of Bayesian Rationality, and a fair number (rising as you go back through history) without the Scientific Method either. Furthermore, this sort of knowledge doesn't really translate into private benefits, only inventions that largely benefit everyone. Quite possibly it is the dutiful, the lucky and the knowledgeable are bearing the load.