Yeah this. People aren't stupid. In fact I would wager that people are smarter now than they have ever been.

The problem is that it's harder to exploit an educated population so the capitalist interests are to keep people educated enough to do work but not enough to question the capitalist motive.

Anti intellectualism isn't an accident or a part of the human condition. It's a purposeful effort by the folks with the money to ensure they get to keep the money. And if anyone thinks otherwise, who is funding anti intellectualism? It's big corporations and big capitalists across the board. They push for their agendas in textbooks and in schools. They buy media companies. They pay off researchers. They defund public education sources like schools and libraries in favor of private options they can control. This isn't a conspiracy it's literally happening and it's plain to see.