While thinking about the widely discussed ‘Davos Question‘, I asked myself if we are really a wise crowd. What makes a crowd (which under different circumstances behaves completely irrationally) make the right decisions? I leave aside for a moment my posts on aggregating information. Instead i want to point to some other interesting posts on collective intelligence and the wisdom of crowds:
- US Consumers: a wise crowd . An interesting example.
- If there’s wisdom in crowds - why don’t we let the masses rule? Learning from nature; with an insightful link
- Wisdom of the crowd and the bullwhip effect
- Mining the wisdom of crowds . An explanation of a powerful strategy
And the other side of the story:
- Maybe the crowd is not wise
- When crowds aren’t wise; the low fat diet cascade. When informational cascades go wrong.
The question still remains? Are we a wise crowd? And if so, will our views be heard?
sofia responded on 19 Dec 2007 at 8:07 pm #
and what about psychology of the masses that suggest that crowds are easily manipulated by “leaders”? in such cases even common sense does not apply, much less a critical mind……. (devil’s advocate on an otherwise admirable notion that we as a whole are far wiser than the leading/experts few)
robojiannis responded on 20 Dec 2007 at 12:48 pm #
@sofia:
I suppose psychology of the masses was a common subject, when mass media were the main means of communication and distribution of knowledge. A system, where few broadcasters provided knowledge/information/data to many receivers.
But today we are witnessing a democratization of media and production. The web has enabled the participation of the receivers in the broadcasting process.
I believe this has transformed the way the masses function.