To be fair (🎶), the palantíri were made by the elves, and only later used for evil after falling into the wrong hands.
(hey, something to think about the next a government wants to place backdoors in encryption protocols)
The elves are better humans, ubermenschen if you want. It makes even more sense.
Am I the only one who cannot manage to feel sympathetic towards elves in any fantasy? In LOTR even the Uruk-hai see more of my sympathy than, say, Legolas.
I know though that I am not fantasy literature material. The only fantasy movie I like is Dragonslayer and I really never could finish a fantasy book.