OK, I finished The Big Sort, and I have to say that while I agree with the observations of the author and his collegues, and I understand their point, I think that in the scope of their exploration they have missed an important factor.

Far be it from me to nit-pick people much smarter than myself, but they have thoroughly explored the results of insulating yourself from the "sanity check"...you and your little group become progressivly more extreme.  (Sanity check: compareing your perceptions of the world to those of others as a way to moderate your opinions).

But they don't seem to address at all the power of the reality check.

Granted, the reality check takes longer, because the conflict of an erroneous position with reality generally has to build up consequences to the point where you can no longer ignore them.

However, we have been here before.  There was a time when the world-view of most people was one completely inconsistant with reality...and eventually people began to depart from the demon-haunted view of the world, and turn toward a more reasoned approach.  Some people require a much more strenuous thump-on-the-head than others...but eventually, most people come around.

I'm not sure how much off the track our society has to become before we reach that tipping-point when we return to sense...but I'd like to think we are approaching it right now.

I guess we'll find out soon.