There's an element of that, too. But consider the next step, the broader implications...
If you are wrong about this, what else is linked to it that you might also be wrong about? If you're into these ideas, you probably went to a couple of specific places to get information, and you probably believed them on those things too. But now all those sources, and all the things you believed from them, become suspect.
It goes from the embarassment about being a fool, to being oh, crap, everything you know is wrong very quickly.