Wisdom (?) of Crowds
Dave Snowden,
Cognitive Edge,
Nov 07, 2007
It is always worth revisiting the conditions set by James Surowiecki for the wisdom of crowds (in this case, as summarized by Dave Snowden:
1. There has to be a way of aggregating individual responses to provide collective judgement
2. There has to be cognitive diversity in the participating group
3. Each of the participants has to make decisions independently of the others.
The similarity between these conditions and my own is no coincidence (and not just because I read Surowiecki's book (though I did)). Where my account differs from this is that I think that the wisdom is emergent, not aggregated. And I think that there needs to be semantic inputs for individuals, something not stated at all here; that's why I insist on connectivity and openness. There is a temptation to require a veil of ignorance. "The agents are not independent, they influence each other and the system." But I think it is useful to learn from each other, so long as we can make our own decisions. That's why I say that autonomy is important, rather than independence.
1. There has to be a way of aggregating individual responses to provide collective judgement
2. There has to be cognitive diversity in the participating group
3. Each of the participants has to make decisions independently of the others.
The similarity between these conditions and my own is no coincidence (and not just because I read Surowiecki's book (though I did)). Where my account differs from this is that I think that the wisdom is emergent, not aggregated. And I think that there needs to be semantic inputs for individuals, something not stated at all here; that's why I insist on connectivity and openness. There is a temptation to require a veil of ignorance. "The agents are not independent, they influence each other and the system." But I think it is useful to learn from each other, so long as we can make our own decisions. That's why I say that autonomy is important, rather than independence.
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