"Dumb Love" - What Smart People sometimes make Crazy Choices


    Orange County Circuit Court Judge Marc Lubert yesterday set the trial date for  Lisa Marie Nowak,  former astronaut, charged with attempted kidnapping, battery and attempted burglary with assault. Nowak  is woman who allegedly stalked a romantic rival, going from Texas to Orlando while wearing a diaper to avoid having to stop for bathroom breaks in February 2007. Her trial will be Dec 7, 2009.
     The first thing most people say upon hearing Nowak's story is "How could an astronaut do something so crazy?" That's what I thought,  too. It seems like our best and brightest - world leaders, financiers, school teachers - should exhibit more sense, more self-control; witness the breaking news story of Mark Sanford , GOP luminary and governor of the Great State of South Carolina and his secret Argentinian romance (just saying that makes me hope to be able to lay on the couch in two years with a hangover watching the Lifetime movie). Turns out they are prey to human biology just as much as the rest of us.
       We all feel stupid when we're in the grip of love but judging ourselves on the basis of dumb-vs.-smart when it comes to those things might be a little misguided. When Nowak's bizarre tale first emerged I did this story, Dumb Love  for The Peeq.com, on exactly the question of why bright people do dim things and was lucky enough to a to interview Dr. Ian Kerner ("The Today Show," Cosmo) whose insights on the subject definitely deserve a read-through. Hope you enjoy.

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