I get the impression that these willfully ignorant types are basically unhappy and bored with their own lives. They want to blame someone. They want fellowship with some kind of network. So they hook on to the fringe right. That immediately gives them a sense of belonging. When they get together with others of that ilk, they immediately have something to talk about. They enjoy learning "the talk" of the fringe because it's easy to learn. They want to sound knowledgeable, even though they don't know much about anything.

They have a way of making conversation by just parroting off stuff, which is so much easier than building a knowledge base about anything. Thinking for yourself is actually a lot of work. If you want to hang out with star-gazers, you have to actually learn something about astronomy . . . if you want to join the conversation at the local sky watchers club. That's true of joining most any group with a specialized interest. Such groups are a way to get social gratification, but there are dues to pay. You have to become educated about something. That's too much mental labor for a lot of people. Adopting conspiracy theories is a lazy man's way of having something to talk about. You don't have to engage in any rigorous thinking. In fact, it's preferable that you don't. Leave that to the "intellectuals," whom you prefer to scorn, as divine1966 points out. Such a person is so smart (in their own estimation) that they don't have "study" anything too hard. They're not going to be fooled by any scientists. Remember Sen. Cruz said that the believers in election fraud "know instinctively" that there is something wrong with the election process. That was a very revealing thing for Cruz to say. He lauds those who don't need a bunch of supporting facts, such as the courts require to entertain a challenge to election results. No siree. They are so smart in their "instincts" that they can just smell when something's off. They don't get fooled like the rest of us do by carefully reasoned opinions. They see through all that with their razor sharp minds.

Skepticism is a fundamental virtue of the scientific. They require evidence. The Qanon crowd turns that on it's head. They prefer to be always skeptical of facts, like the historian's claim that about 6 million Jews died in a holocaust. They're not going to be "taken in" by stuff like that. Doubting what is commonly accepted is their badge of being uncommonly smart. They recognize that advanced thinkers often reject common knowledge - like Gallileo rejecting that the world is flat. That's the category they see themselves in. They have found a shortcut to being smart - just reject stuff with no need to prove why. Your fellow members of your cult will congratulate you for it. You just know when stuff is fishy. Of course, what you doubt is always what the cult leaders tell you to doubt. They actually are the consumate followers. We belong to one of the many species in nature where a group derives its cohesiveness by dominant individuals exploiting the reality that an awful lot of people yearn to follow. When those follower types are mentally lazy, they get attracted to a movement that requires little commitment of mental effort. Your fellows in the cult will embrace you for parroting off the easily learned talking points. The lady I met at the store was a dope and very boring to talk with. Still, no doubt, she's got a circle of buddies. This is her solution to her loneliness. The willfully ignorant strike me as trying to remedy the loneliness that comes from not really having much to say, until they get furnished with easy to remember talking points.