Of your two options, #2 is probably the most accurate.
Those who live in Ivory Towers seldom have a clear view of how the world really works. It reminds me of an old saying by Bill Buckley about how he'd rather be ruled by 100 people chosen at random from the phone book than by the faculty of an Ivy League college. Those people chosen at random would likely have more divergent viewpoints and a better grounding in reality than the faculty.