I think that's what it boils down to at it's core. They have a need to feel like they know something most people haven't learned about yet and that it will all be revealed in time to the masses, at which point those who were at the vanguard will be exalted and revered by society. It's fantastical way to imagine themselves as something more significant than what they actually are and a way to cope with the mundanity of their lives.

That's my theory at least.