@thomasfuchs it was super enlightening when I went back to school in my 30s to become an electrical engineer after working in odd jobs ranging from the arts to restaurants. I thought I'd be around a lot of sciency folks. Now I work alongside a ton of really smart people with terrible critical thinking skills. Also a ton of racism, sexism, and homophobia. And lots of folks who "don't like to read"
People who are really smart in one area can convince themselves that all their opinions are smart.