Board Thread:Off Topic/@comment-25396609-20190908002326/@comment-36926079-20190908043619

Maybe it works on the confirmation bias? While it is certainly not true in real life, intelligent people are stereotypically portrayed as judgemental and unreceptive to new ideas, meaning after you gained their trust, it would be hard to snap them out of it.

Granted, by this logic, smart people would be more resistant if they hated the villain or knew about the semblance beforehand. However, the odds of that happening before they meet are small, as the villain is likely to have a very dominant public appeal.

It still doesn't really make sense from this angle, but at least it's quasi-plausible.