I read that interview, and there was plenty of education with how the ranked choice voting worked, and it seemed like the issue wasn't with ranked choice voting at all.
The issue was that now that multiple candidates (~15), people weren't sure who they wanted to vote for. Since it wasn't just a "favorite" out of two people after the primaries, people needed more education on who all the candidates were. That seems like an easy fix though as long as people can visit a single website or get a brochure in the mail listing who all the candidates are.
It's depressing to think that you're right. 40 years ago it looked like this, and now it looks like this too. We have civil engineers and research all around the world that shows how to build better, more human infrastructure and transportation, but America decides that this is what it needs to be. 🙃