The best explanations I've heard is that these theores are not mutually exclusive. They can all be true at the same time and merely describe the physics from a different angle.
Maybe the damage is limited because very few of us will be designing airfoils. That may also be why it has been so hard to correct! The consequences for getting it wrong are minimal.
Something much more dangerous would be an untruth that directly harms people. The debate around those tends to be much more rigorous, although I'm surprised how long some of those can endure when people get attached to them!
So, most pilots have little idea how wings actually work. (But since the rise of the internet, things have been sloooowly changing. At least the pilots have started questioning and arguing!)