I know several people who are smart, happy with their jobs, and are massive conspiracy theorists. I think they have a kind of Dunning-Kruger syndrome: they are

I know several people who are smart, happy with their jobs, and are massive conspiracy theorists. I think they have a kind of Dunning-Kruger syndrome: they are very successful in their fields, which leads them to believe that any explanation that makes sense to them must be true. It is the case some of the time, but occasionally it tricks them into believing in stupid theories that do not really make sense. Some Nobel prize winners famously went down that hole, who were very successful and admired before turning bad.