Nuggets: The Wisdom of Crowds

For much of my life, I knew that the consensus was the right way to make a decision and that popular culture always chose the mediocre. I laughed up my sleeve at one of my schoolmates who thought that Michael Jackson was amazing, then took up Prince as Prince became more popular. She swore that she was choosing artists based on ability, but it was apparent to me that she was picking the most popular ones. But, you know, Prince really is one of the best pop artists of his generation.

By the time I realized that, I was preparing myself to become a Social Psychologist. I learned all about group-think, decisions made using faulty heuristics and how to sway people's attitudes. I learned just how dumb people can be. But, you know, people aren't that bad at surviving in the world.

The Wisdom of Crowds, by James Surowiecki, has finally convinced me that M.J. and Prince really are the great artists that they appear and that groups of people really are smart enough to survive in the world. And maybe consensus really isn't best.