"The Age Of The Idiot" (It's Got a Nice Ring To It)

"The remarks of Michael Bienes, one of [Bernie] Madoff's early partners who was interviewed extensively,...give us some idea of how one man could pull off such a colossal fraud.

Frontline: What made you think that he could return 20 percent?

Bienes: I don't know! How do I know? How do you split an atom? I know you can split them, I don't know how you do it. How does an airplane fly? I don't ask.

Frontline: Did you ask him?

Bienes: Never! Why would I ask him? I wouldn't understand if he explained it. Something with arbitrage between bonds and stocks and blah blah blah.

We really are living in the age of the idiot, aren't we? Most people are so comfortable with their ignorance that common wisdom is no longer wise. My new rule? Whatever course of action everyone else agrees on, do the opposite."

-- Heather Havrilesky, discovering we're in "The Age Of The Idiot" while reviewing Frontline's "The Madoff Affair" (9 p.m. Tuesday, May 12, on PBS) for Salon.