They do it not because they are stupid, for they are not. They truly believe that what they do is right, that it's the shining path to the better future.
That is the actual structure of a revolution. Your parent comment is misguided; revolutions that aren't led by elites are rare and, when they occur, generally don't go anywhere.
This is also why killing all the intellectuals after a successful revolution is so popular.
The "scientific revolution", is not really a well known or unambiguous label, the growth of science being a long term trend. And it's worth observing that a major part of the present day corruption of science with the replication crisis, the junk sociological sciences and so on, are the result of an explicit top down utopian plan by governments to make a better tomorrow by funding academics.
Most intellectuals have identified the problem pretty quickly but they also stay mostly silent.
There are also those in high positions without the necessary facilities of course.