The wisdom of crowds -- The difference difference makes : waggle dances, the Bay of Pigs, and the value of diversity -- Monkey see, monkey do : imitation, information cascades, and independence -- Putting the pieces together : the CIA, Linux, and the art of decentralization -- Shall we dance? : coordination in a complex world -- Society does exist : taxes, tipping, television, and trust -- Traffic : what we have here is a failure to coordinate -- Science : collaboration, competition, and reputation -- Committees, juries, and teams : the Columbia disaster and how small groups can be made to work -- The company : meet the new boss, same as the old boss? -- Markets : beauty contests, bowling alleys, and stock prices -- Democracy : dreams of the common good -- Afterword to Anchor Books edition.

In this book, New Yorker columnist 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. With seemingly boundless erudition and in clear, entertaining 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 offers important lessons for how we live our lives, select our leaders, run our companies, and think about our world.--From publisher description.

In this book, New Yorker columnist 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. With seemingly boundless erudition and in clear, entertaining 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 offers important lessons for how e live our lives, select our leaders, run our companies, and think about our world.--From publisher description.