One phenomenon that spooks me is when intelligent people believe in idiotic things.

It makes me wonder if there's a wrong turn in the road that I too might fall in the same pit.

Vigilance is warranted, I think.

I can't find it right now, but something came up a few years ago (probably on HN) about highly intelligent people being more adept at making up arguments to rationalize beliefs and actions that they had taken for other reasons entirely.

Sort of makes sense that wielding a more complex mind would offer more complex ways to go wrong, doesn't it?

As someone who watched one of their heros fall for some stupid cult like thing ten years ago and wondered the same thing. Then many years later fell for some dumb stuff. The answer is you probably will. Try to stay intellectually flexible, it'll be okay.