At Friam today we discussed the Wisdom of Crowds book, and I mentioned the 4 requirements for a crowd to be wise. Here's the story from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wisdom_of_Crowds#Four_elements_required_to_form_a_wise_crowd -- Owen According to Surowiecki, these key criteria separate wise crowds from irrational ones: CriteriaDescriptionDiversity of opinion<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion>Each person should have private information even if it's just an eccentric interpretation of the known facts.IndependencePeople's opinions aren't determined by the opinions of those around them.DecentralizationPeople are able to specialize and draw on local knowledge.AggregationSome mechanism exists for turning private judgments into a collective decision<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decision_making> .
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