The ones at the top of it, the academics and theorists really are smarter than most of us, smarter in raw IQ anyway. They are obviously smarter in certain narrow fields than anyone else and think that means they are smarter and more knowledgeable in all fields, smarter enough that they think they can better run everyone’s life better than the livers of those lives can. That results in hi IQ stupidity and ignorance.
They are NOT smarter by any real measure. They are a self-selecting, self-congratulating, and self-endorsing bunch. They bob their heads in somber agreement when one of their number speaks. They go into hysterical fits when their premises and conclusions are questioned. They are so used to glad-handing one another that they are terrified when their pronouncements are put under rigorous scrutiny. They’re closer to actors than academics.