(Simplified) Social Psychology of Conspiracy theorists

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Yeah, right. Sure we should.

A little bit of both because there are some extremely cynical views expressed by conspiracy theorists but the views expressed in the video are also a very cynical view that is only verified by an extreme base that cannot start to justify their views. It's like saying that Obama is beyond question and then citing the birthers as why Obama is beyond question. Sure, the birthers are wrong and just plain stupid but that doesn't discount Obama's questionable history and his questionable associations since his entry to the political world.

In the same way, I generally look at 9/11 not from the planes hitting the buildings on forward but before that point and I find very questionable associations and very questionable motivations. From the planes on forward, all that I'll generally state is that the collapse is fantastically symmetrical for how asymmetrical the damage was that was inflicted upon the structures and how questionable the collapse of building 7 was. And even at the point of the towers on forward, an argument can be built either way. However, the associations between the flight school, the international drug trade, the CIA, and the president and his immediate family is much more compelling of a case to investigate and much more of concern for the nation as a whole. You can discuss all day about how and why the building fell the way they did but Mohammed Atta's connection with Wolfgang Borhinger is much more concrete of a story verified by third party sources that has been basically buried in this whole confusion. As has the whole flight school connection to decades previous drug imports and the one bust that was reported then immediately ignored after. As was the fact that Bush was president, Jeb was governor of Florida (and confiscated all police records and locked them up permanently) and Marvin was head of security for the World Trade Center complexes up until the week before 9/11. There's much more to investigate before the bomb went off than after, in so many ways of speaking. There's A LOT more that hasn't been covered and has been ignored that occurred before and leading up to the attacks.

why are most people so quick to assume the elites are altruistic? conspiracy theorists are the true skeptics.

No one is truly altruistic.
All altruism derives from "reciprocal altruism" roughly translated to: "i'll be nice, so that you'll be nice back to me"

Any nice act of the power elite, is to get gain in the future. Be nice to your workers and they'll produce more. However you best not be more nice than the economics of the issue dictate. Though best case scenario for the power elite is to be a bit nicer than the economics dictate, there are unmeasurable externalities and side-effects that make a happier workforce more in their best interest.

But the key word is "HAPPIER" not "BETTER OFF"
What better way to make you happy, and them rich... than to get you to WANT to give up something they were giving you? 9-11 made Americans (many of them at least) want to give up certain freedoms. Those freedoms were costly to the power elite, and they're now better off... (regardless of whether this was intended or not)

The "truther" is no more altruistic than the power elite though.
They "value" the freedom that they perceive to have lost, more than the cost of trying to uncover the "truth" And likely they derive other pleasure/happiness from seeking out that "truth" too.
They act in a way that one could view as altruistic, because they have little to gain, save for a few hardly sold books that they might write, and films that lose money consistently (except Michael Moore, mind you) But they are doing it in hopes of something other than financial gain... they are doing it so that in the end they can hopefully be the "hero" and regain the surrendered freedoms.

There are no altruist... only reciprocal altruists and altruism fakers.
That applies to both sides equally.