great discourse on group dynamics....

the Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki. just read it. he makes the point - in short - that diverse groups of people (crowds), regardless of how uninformed they are, are the best way to get the best answers and make the wisest decisions. i liked it and to be honest (as i "read" this in audible format) i kept drifting from time to time so i will definitely go through it again albeit selectively.

the book contains a ton of anecdotes and examples (and i got the abridged edition too!) like the fact that 40% of Americans polled during the height of the cold war thought the Soviet Union was a member of NATO but then goes on to prove that this is immaterial in the larger scheme of things.

 

it actually got me thinking about how the theory would stand up in a place like kuwait? i had somewhat assumed that the country's democracy was vibrant yet its individual constituents lacked the decision-making skills (i.e. education) to make wise decisions. there is also the tendency to value selfish short-term interests over the more salient long-term interests of the society which the author also touches on in a way (via his Enron example). i think his book has quite a few useful insights on tweaking any consensus-based system....