I’ve found that brilliant people frequently live in an somewhat altered universe. That is to say that they tend to see the world differently. My brother in law is a brilliant coder....you probably know some of his books as well. DO NOT ask him for directions. He does not get lost, it is just the things he picks for landmarks are things ordinary people (i) don’t notice, (ii) can’t find. Also he has an altered sense of time.
I think they like what liberalism supposedly stands for and are naive as to political realities.
Plus I think there may be a difference between engineering types and computer science types. I'm not sure if I can put my finger on it, but I'll guess: Engineering types have to be a bit more logical and think further ahead. Just plowing ahead on your first idea can cause a circuit to blow up or an engine to blow if you don't consider most if not all of the variables. CS types can be a little looser. If your first ideas fail, just try something else, eventually it works "good enough". Their minds are trained differently and they apply those thought processes to life problems.