Jacob Weisberg riffs on Dyson: A lot of our premises have turned out to be wrong lately. Those who challenged the groupthink tended to be dismissed as provocateurs, wackos, or worse. So at a moment when everything we once assumed seems suddenly up for discussion, it may be worth asking the question: What other big stuff could we be wrong about?
Freeman Dyson: I beseech you, in the words of Oliver Cromwell, to think it possible you may be mistaken.
Paul Graham: This idea is so pervasive that even the kids believe it.
From a discussion here last month: I don't mean to agitate, but it's interesting how the public demand for honesty and realism appears to be inversely proportional to the performance of the major indexes. In 2007, when the Dow first broke 12600, I doubt many people were saying: "after a fifty percent increase in the 'value' of the economy it's about damn time these people stopped blowing smoke and come clean about what the situation is so that the rest of us can make informed decisions." And the few people who asked such questions found themselves the laughingstock of Wall Street and Main Street alike.
What Else Are We Wrong About? | 
