The Wisdom of Crowds

Using an incredibly wide range of examples and applications, Surowiecki consistently and surprisingly illustrates the power that combined intelligence has.

The global outbreak of SARS is a great example of the wisdom of crowds, as disparate labs around the world found the cause in record quick time. Another more everyday example is that of a bookie. Having worked out the predicted odds for a sporting event, the bookie then watches how the punters as a whole bet and move their odds up and down to ensure a profit (the bookie only has to break even with the punters to make a profit).

Even the internet demonstrates the wisdom of crowds. Google is, after all, built on the basis of websites hyper-linking to other websites and by this criteria ranking the more important ones (those with the most links from other high ranking sites). Therefore giving you the page that is most relevant to your search.

People constantly have to battle with themselves over what is best for them (in the short term) and what is actually best for the group.

If you’re a fan of Malcolm Gladwell then this book is a must.