What initially surprised me was the fact that almost all the so called very intelligent "critical thinkers" I work with, swallowed the whole scam, hook, line and sinker. They still do to this day...or wont admit they were very wrong. It is a cliche now, but the whole thing made me finally realise how the Nazis had such a hold over all levels of the German population (not everyone, but a large majority), and Germans are the most critical thinkers around. Made me also realise that >90% people want their hand held by the state, and there is little correlation between that trait and "intelligence", net worth, job status etc.