He seems to have lived his life on his own terms. That alone deserves respect.
Too bad he gave up on reality and started drinking the Kool-Aid. Happens to a lot of successful people, they think that just because they are successful at one thing they are experts in everything.
There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means "
my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."
Isaac Asimov (1980)The "intellectuals" are almost exclusively of the far left wing political spectrum. Their bias is becoming increasingly obvious in the studies they produce. See the anti-HCQ study that was recently pulled from The Lancet.
The right doesn't have a monopoly on "anti-intellectualism" though. See the aforementioned anti-HCQ activism on the left, just because Donald Trump once remarked that it's a promising treatment.
Both sides are stupefied by their political convictions. I'm obviously to the right - maybe even far right. However, I'm going to keep wearing a mask, social distancing, and avoiding large crowds. And if I still somehow get the virus, I'm going to get ahold of HCQ.