whatever we make of it

And for a quick summary of the current state of play try the Cobuilder site, which has:

"The evidence In the British parts of the Bank of English, `disorient' occurs 182 times, `disorientate' 308 times. In the American parts, `disorient' occurs 189 times, `disorientate' twice.
ADVICE You can say something disorients you or disorientates you. In British English, disorientate is more common."
http://www.cobuild.collins.co.uk/cgi-bin/wwatchlook