The Wisdom of Crowds

Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations

James Surowiecki | 4.06 | 22,685 ratings and reviews

Recommended by Simon Sinek, Ev Williams, Ben Shapiro, and 5 others. See all reviews

Ranked #29 in Consumer Behavior, Ranked #36 in Behavioral Psychology — see more rankings.

""No one in this world, so far as I know, has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people." --H. L. Mencken"
H. L. Mencken was wrong.
In this endlessly fascinating book, "New Yorker" columnist James Surowiecki explores a deceptively simple idea that has profound implications: large groups of people are "smarter" than an elite few, no matter how brilliant--better at solving problems, fostering innovation, coming to wise decisions, even predicting the future.
This seemingly counterintuitive notion has endless and major ramifications for how businesses operate, how knowledge is advanced, how economies are (or should be) organized and how we live our daily lives. With seemingly boundless erudition and in delightfully clear prose, Surowiecki ranges across fields as diverse as popular culture, psychology, ant biology, economic behaviorism, artificial intelligence, military history and political theory to show just how this principle operates in the real world.
Despite the sophistication of his arguments, Surowiecki presents them in a wonderfully entertaining manner. The examples he uses are all down-to-earth, surprising, and fun to ponder. Why is the line in which you're standing always the longest? Why is it that you can buy a screw anywhere in the world and it will fit a bolt bought ten-thousand miles away? Why is network television so awful? If you had to meet someone in Paris on a specific day but had no way of contacting them, when and where would you meet? Why are there traffic jams? What's the best way to win money on a game show? Why, when you walk into a convenience store at 2:00 A.M. to buy a quart of orange juice, is it there waiting for you? What do Hollywood mafia movies have to teach us about why corporations exist?
"The Wisdom of Crowds" is a brilliant but accessible biography of an idea, one with important lessons for how we live our lives, select our leaders, conduct our business, and think about our world. less

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Reviews and Recommendations

We've comprehensively compiled reviews of The Wisdom of Crowds from the world's leading experts.

Simon Sinek AuthorRecommends this book

Ev Williams Co-Founder/Twitter, CEO/MediumRecommends this book

Ben Shapiro It's very good. (Source)

David Ndii @Mbiginji If you like that type you might enjoy The Wisdom of Crowds - James Surowiecki and Homo Deus by Yuval Harari. Recommend also Winners Takes All by Anand Giridharadas. Different kind of book but important read. (Source)

Nadia Al Sheikh Although we tend to elect leaders that we believe know better and follow them hoping for a better future, better life & a safer life. Surprisingly in many cases the wisdom of the crowd has proven to be more accurate than most of our smartest leaders. The message for me is to learn to listen to the people and to learn from them assuming you know nothing with that you will learn a lot! (Source)

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