The Wisdom of Crowds
Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30
CORE DEFINITION
Under certain conditions (diversity, independence, decentralization), the aggregated judgment of a group often outperforms the judgment of the smartest individual in the group. - Example: When guessing the weight of an ox, the average guess of hundreds of ordinary people is often more accurate than the guess of a veterinary expert. -
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
The cornerstone of decentralized decision-making. - The prerequisite is 'independence'! If group members influence each other (such as 'herd behavior' or 'groupthink'), collective wisdom can turn into collective foolishness. To harness collective wisdom, it is necessary to isolate the opinions of each member, have them vote back-to-back, and then take the average.
Anchor fast decisions
The aggregation (mean or median) of independent and diverse individual judgments often outperforms a single expert, as errors cancel each other out.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/2Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wisdom_of_Crowdsverified
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