As someone who was brought up in a cult and managed to break free later in life, this article hits close to home. I've experienced how adept we can be at self delusion in an extreme way.

And just like the article says, I don't think intelligence had much to do with my leaving; several of my former acquaintances were much smarter than me and are still in the cult, staunchly defending beliefs that are totally irrational.

At the end of the day I think it takes facing the real-life consequences of an irrational belief in order to burst an ideological bubble.