I think as people gain experience, they can start substituting experience and cynicism for actual first principles thinking and curiosity.

> the more someone has deep understanding in tech, the more they are critical of it.

I think the criticism comes mostly from people with just a little knowledge, trying to sound and feel like they know more. Just a few talking points or principles enable you to criticize, but not seriously analyze (much less create).

Everyone is a cynic simply because cynicism is easy. Any infosec professional can go "computers are insecure, never use them". And the advice will be correct, but ultimately useless. The ones worth anything won't just point out problems but also find solutions.

Yes, it's called counter-signaling.