addendum:

I am especially suspicious of any article that paints one group as being "smart" and another group as being "dumb". There is a large body of research on human motivation, and this is a textbook example of trying to manipulate public opinion by making people who think one way feel out of synch with reality.

This kind of behavioral manipulation is the basis on which herd mentality is built. Make people afraid to think for themselves or have a disapproved opinion, and you have them right where you want them. Once herd mentality is created, and the members of the herd start to enforce the "rules" on the other members, whoever is driving the ideology can then tell the herd how to vote, which products to buy, what to believe (or disbelieve), who to persecute, who to admire etc.

The only way to avoid the herd is to think for yourself and don't let anybody else validate or dismiss your opinions.

But that's just my opinion, you can think, mooo or baaa differently if you want.