Some noteworthy points from book The Wisdom of Crowds:
- Groups do not need to be dominated by exceptionally intelligent people in order to be smart. ~ the wisdom of crowds. Even if most of the people within a group are not especially well-informed or rational,it can still reach a collectively wise decision.
- Instead of insisting on finding the best possible decision, we will often accept one that seems good enough. And we often let emotion affect our judgment. Yet despite all these limitations, when our imperfect judgments are aggregated in the right way, our collective intelligence is often excellent.
- One of the striking things about the wisdom of crowds is that even though its effects are all around us, it’s easy to miss, and, even when it’s seen, it can be hard to accept.
- Chasing the expert is a mistake, and a costly one at that. We should stop hunting and ask the crowd (which, of course, includes the geniuses as well as everyone else) instead. Chances are, it knows.
http://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Crowds-James-Surowiecki/dp/0385721706