Do not be in awe of people and their opinions just because they can code, or know cryptography, or specialise in privacy tools. It's not that hard, I taught myself on the side, seperate to my unrelated profession - some people devote their lives to cryptography, of course they would be proficient, but it doesn't make them special. INVENTING cryptographic methods, now that's genius. Studying and applying it, that's just a career path. Think for yourself. Don't be in awe of anyone's profession. No one has the superior position over you when logic is involved. If it feels like you're being gaslit, you probably are.