Thank you for pointing this out. Lately I'd been feeling despondent, thinking that the Internet is mostly a sea of unsupported opinion. The surfeit of opinion seems driven by the fact that (a) unsupported opinion is easier to write and publish than carefully researched facts and analysis, and (b) opinion is also easier and more titillating to read. But really, things are improving.
Another great morale-lifter was Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds. When you read how common and insane were the myths and fads of previous times, you think how lucky you are to be alive now, when the irrationality quotient is so much lower.
you think how lucky you are to be alive now, when the irrationality quotient is so much lower.
I can't tell if you're being serious or if this is the most deliciously ironic riposte that I have ever had the pleasure to read. Either way, I'm grateful.
Yes, thank goodness for our increased rationality since the days of Extraordinary Popular Delusions. If not for all the rational thinkers we have today, we might have had to endure one or even two completely irrational economic bubbles in the last decade alone. Man, wouldn't that have sucked?
Anyway, I agree that the irrationality quotient is lower, but I wouldn't go so far as to claim that it's much lower. ;)
Another great morale-lifter was Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds. When you read how common and insane were the myths and fads of previous times, you think how lucky you are to be alive now, when the irrationality quotient is so much lower.