Tricon, you hit the nail on the head. We naturally enjoy feeling smarter than the average Joe, so the TV producers give us what we want. Maybe the statisticians do, too. Who are the schmucks now?

Why, I ask you, should I think that most people are morons compared to myself? Because of some statistic I happened to read in passing? Do I really know anything about how a survey's results were obtained, or how representative they are of reality?

I have never met all these supposed masses of ignorant people, and neither, I suspect, have you. Most of those I know are really quite intelligent, some clearly more intelligent than me. So what should I allow to shape my perception of people: my actual experience, or vague statistics heard through questionable media sources?

Looking at many of the greatest thinkers of history, one realizes that they recognized their own foollishness and lack of knowledge. So banish the temptation of intellectual elitism, before it makes a fool of you.