???? UNDER THE LAMPLIGHT-

Are humans getting dumber? This question underpins The Psychology of Stupidity, a thoughtful collection of essays and interviews. The book investigates why smart people sometimes believe in nonsense, how the little thinking machines in our heads cause us to make bad decisions, and how media and internet overexposure can make us dumber. The book was written by a small group of psychologists, philosophers, and intellectuals, mostly from France, and it combines expert perspectives on the most recent psychological and neurological research. Editor Jean-Francois Marmion sets the tone by rebutting the idea that we live in a "golden age of idiocy," while social psychologist Ewa Drozda-Senkowska makes a distinction between ignorance and stupidity. "True stupidity is the sign of a frightening intellectual complacency that leaves no room for doubt," she writes.