Basically information is power. Due to informational asymmetry[1] being exploitable via economic, political and other forms of power, it is almost always in somebody else's interest that you be misinformed.
Therefore the person with the most to lose (and the person with the best interest in being informed) is you. And instead of seeking out the forms of information that empower us, we fritter away our attentions on trivialities and pop culture (yes, including programming pop culture). A good example of a prophet who tries to steer us programmers the right way is Kalzumeus, imho.
Part of the reason we fritter away our time is that it is simply easier to consume the mass-delusion, because the search for truth can be fairly lonesome (since you are the only interested party).
Under the circumstances outlined above, it is no wonder that most of what we believe may be false, and part of a larger (self-bootstrapping) conspiracy to keep us in the dark (cue ominous music, break out the tin-foil hats).