I think the other side of the coin is responsibility. The reason that so many people actually prefer to follow outside "authority" is because they simply don't want to take responsibility.
As an example, if you don't check your bank statement, you might get fleeced. Many people either can't be bothered to check their bank statements, or they can't bring themselves to do it, for fear of what they might see there. So they leave themselves open to being fleeced.