Note that the recently identified "technical middle class" in British society http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_structure_of_the_United_...
seems to capture the science side of the dichotomy. The lack of cultural capital of the technical middle class is a problem for their status, in traditional terms, whereas lack of scientific knowledge in other social groupings is not.
As Flanders and Swann put it, "One of the great problems in the world today is undoubtedly this problem of not being able to talk to scientists, because we don't understand science. They can't talk to us because they don't understand anything else, poor dears." http://www.nyanko.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/fas/anotherhat_first....
I was taught Latin, badly, at a British boarding school for, but never mastered it and was 'demoted' to the woodworking class after a year. I also spent my free time in the computer room learning to program on a Commodore Pet (I still remember the number 32768 primarily because it's the start of the video memory page; vital if you're going to poke ascii values into the display page).
In later life I was made to feel ignorant by my inability with Latin, and my ability to speak C,C++,Pascal, Basic and Assembler was largely ignored or derided, even when needed.
I've always found my knowledge of woodworking and programming massively more useful (and therefore valuable) than a decent grasp of a dead language, but my more 'cultured' friends disagreed and condescended.
Now, however, I'm beginning to perceive a level of discomfort amongst my more 'cultured' friends, that while an understanding of Latin is absolutely required for an intellectual life, an understanding of javascript might be needed to. Be interesting to see where this goes.
As Flanders and Swann put it, "One of the great problems in the world today is undoubtedly this problem of not being able to talk to scientists, because we don't understand science. They can't talk to us because they don't understand anything else, poor dears." http://www.nyanko.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/fas/anotherhat_first....