I have my own theories of the mind in which the primitive base of the mind is the ego. It is very crude. One of its primary functions is to seek advantage at every opportunity in support of its main purpose and that is to drive one to survive at all costs. And since surviving even into eternity is an impulse spun off from the ego, the ego is also the basis for religion and a belief in God.

Intellect is a higher level of the mind, meaning that those with a well developed intellect would not be as prone to superstition and conspiracy theories as those of a more pure ego. Donald Trump and many of his followers would come to mind when thinking of pure ego.