And here, Kevin Drum points out, correctly, that in that "Dumbing of America" essay, "Susan Jacoby spends 1,500 words telling us that Americans are getting dumber but doesn't offer a single piece of evidence to support this notion. Not one."

I find it remarkable how willing so many smart people of my acquaintance are willing to swallow everybody's-getting-stupider assertions without any backup whatsoever. Why, you'd think smart people were just as prone as any other human beings to groupthink and collective self-pity.