in his book, the wisdom of the crowds, james surowiecki demonstrates myriad situations where the many are smarter than the few.

"if four basic conditions are met, a crowd's 'collective intelligence' will produce better outcomes than a small group of experts, even if members of the crowd don't know all the facts or choose, individually, to act irrationally. 'wise crowds' need (1) diversity of opinion; (2) independence of members from one another; (3) decentralization; and (4) a good method for aggregating opinions."

the idea is this: that a large group of people are ultimately smarter than an elite few, no matter how brilliant the elite. have i been muddling about the world all wrong? have i been wrong to trust that my brains will be enough to take me through the harrowing steps of life? should i toss aside my innate elitism and try to listen to the plebeian opinions of others? if what this book is saying is right, then maybe spiderman-2 and lord of the rings 3 really are great movies.



um nope, i'm right. they both suck. sorry mr surowiecki, i'm gonna have to throw my money in with the elites. groups are retards, individuals rule.