When I was 20 I had some crazy ideas too. I was inclined to believe in free energy, in alternative medicine (colloidal silver), I believed ESP was likely for some individuals, I believed in superfoods and adaptogens, I believed the government wanted us to be sick to make money from us... I think being a teenager/tween is a time when you are exploring the world on your own rather than letting the world tell you how things are, and I think it's inevitable to hit upon both good ideas and bad.
I really can't say what started me on a skeptical path. I never had anyone expose me to a skeptical viewpoint back then, so I don't know how I would have reacted. I doubt I would have been as engaged in hubris as the chief, but I know I did not like the establishment, and I did not separate any adult authority from the 'establishment'. By that time I was at least clear about the fact that what the establishment wanted me to be and what I wanted to be was entirely different.
I guess my point is that fear and laziness are not always the cause of irrational beliefs. Many times it comes from unbridled exploration coupled with not being equipped to engage the world. I went through high school without ever being introduced to critical thinking, without ever being made aware of the mistakes a human brain is likely to make. My school prepared me for the world they wanted me to be a part of, business, academics, services, government, and did next to nothing to prepare me for the world I would actually find.
