I’ve been fairly repetitive in expressing some anxiety about the cyber-utopianism expressed by some of my more breathless colleagues working in and around the Internet.

This recent thought piece by software scientist Jaron Lanier is a provocative and worthwhile exploration of the line between the “wisdom of crowds” and what he terms “foolish collectivism.”

Suffice it to say, there’s plenty more of the latter.

Also see this NYT piece on the uber-democratic Wikipedia.

If there’s wisdom in crowds, how do you explain the election of George Bush?