they perceive themselves as more intelligent than everyone else.

They certainly perceive themselves as more intelligent than those who do not believe authority, but they do not see themselves as intelligent as the authorities. For example they say "trust the doctors". Anyone who does is in thier eyes smarter than anyone who doesn't. But they also believe it is beyond thier ability to understand the science as a doctor would. So when you present peer reviewed studies that contradict the narrative they don't even attempt to consider it. Nor do they ever attempt to argue on the basis of science, logic, or facts. Those are left to the realm of thinkers. The clergy of thier religion.

And the catch is that this may in fact be the best way for them to live. A sheep in the wild would be dead In a week. So even though the sheep on the farm get slaughtered it would not be in thier interest to revolt against the farmer. The sheep have no hope of running thier own farm.

I wonder how much this analogy translates.