the reality-based community

Had no idea there was such a thing, or that I was a member of it, until today. But now I've read the NY Times article of 10/17/04 by Ron Suskind where the phrase was introduced. It's too bad it can't be read from the nytimes.com without paying a fee. I have an academic account that allowed me to read it via lexis-nexis. For those unfamiliar with the term, it refers to those who "believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality," whereas the unnamed senior White House staffer claims, "That's not the way the world really works anymore. We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality...We're history's actors...and you, all of you (members of the 'reality-based community', that is) will be left to just study what we do." Seems that somebody at the White House is taking post-modernism too seriously.