Consciousness is often the result of life experience. The more spiritual, aware, and empathic, presumably even with esp, but some traits show much younger. No, not everybody later has them either. There are selfish people everywhere, and there are the socially inept, no awareness, just greed and their prejudices, or are simply unaware of anything else apart from themselves, and sometimes this is a disability.

Intelligence is often the result of programming, but tends to be more hereditary. Because of better opportunity and tuition. Again it is also an individual talent. Smart people are sometimes the least conscious. They excel at a field of study and sometimes not much else despite having an ability to learn and solve.

Both consciousness and intelligence can be passed down depending on the methods and tuition.

Although as you said trauma or hardship can play a role in your supposed skeptical consciousness, or being around events and things that make them question. Social etiquette however often takes better upbringing and interaction.

I dislike this topic's insinuations. NPC. To be fair I don't think many people care until they are forced too. Until a particular event or experience actually affects them differently. Otherwise they won't research it. They'll simply and like everybody else follow any programming passed on. Again every single brain works differently, and often has difficulties.