In the 28 Sept 2003 edition of the Parade Magazine, there was a Q-and-A in the
"Ask Marilyn" column as follows ..
Q. " I work at a community college where two instructors teach the same science course.
One explains concepts clearly, and his students do well on standardized tests.
The other is scattered and confusing, and his students perform poorly.
But the students believe that the latter instructor is brilliant.
They think that his explanations are simply over their heads!
Why does this perception occur? "
A. " The kids don't yet have enough confidence in themselves.
This is one reason young people are more susceptible to charismatic leaders and charlatans.
Adults -- especially those who lack a good education -- sometimes make the same mistake.
Both groups are more easily mislead into believing that mysterious people are
highly intelligent.
When listeners hear material that they don't grasp, they assume the fault is with them,
not the speaker.
So if the listeners consider themselves fairly intelligent, then they assume that the
speaker must be brilliant. "
It would seem that an easy extrapolation from this would explain why it is so easy for some
fanatics to become leaders of so many followers who have little-to-no confidence in themselves.
And it would be even easier if the leader could somehow connect his cause with
the religion with which the followers were already very deeply involved.