Intellectualism isn't about following the intellectuals, it's about being yourself. What you believe is right. Many intellectuals are wrong on many things.
Quotable quote from someone :
Something I've learned in 36 years of teaching super talented, high achieving, highly ambitious young men and women: A great many people believe what they believe because they think it's what smart, sophisticated, high achieving people believe and are expected to believe.
Of course, smart, sophisticated, high achieving people can be wrong, have been wrong, and indeed are wrong about many things. That is why thinking for oneself--and not outsourcing one's thinking--is so critically important.