The Wisdom of Crowds
You can view this book's Amazon detail page here.
Tags: , crowds, decisions, democracy, markets, wisdom
- Started reading:
- 3rd November 2007
- Finished reading:
- 12th November 2007
Review
Rating: 9
I recommend this book highly! Jim Surowiecki has created a highly readable book that puts much of the decision process of groups into clear and lucid terms. Jim addresses the three types of wisdom in “crowds” or groups. These are cognitive problems, coordination and cooperation.
Cognitive problems are one that have or will have a definite answer. Coordination problems require members to figure out how to coordinate their behavior with each other.
The last type is cooperation where self-interested, distrustful members need to work together.
For each of these types, Surowiecki provides clear examples of group operation and what are the key characteristics necessary for success.
While Surowiecki is a proponent of the value and wisdom of collective decision, he also recognizes cases when the collective decision process can go awry (for example, stock market bubbles) and discusses the root causes.