Intelligence is collective too. Because we focus so much on intelligence as a personal quality, we miss the social aspect.
Sometimes the most obvious things are right under our noses. Collective intelligence is one of those obvious things. Because we focus so much on intelligence as a personal quality, we miss the social aspect.
Science communicator Hannah Critchlow makes this point in her book Joined-Up Thinking: ‘Collective intelligence is the stuff of our everyday lives and we all do it, often without even noticing. Every time we diffuse a family row, organise a big social gathering or collaborate on a project at work, it comes into play.’ Critchlow goes on to describe the cognitive skills required. They involve communication, trust, empathy, persuasion, negotiation, imagination, wit, emotions and language. She writes:
‘Collective intelligence flows from one brain to another, morphing and enriching itself as it goes to create an extended mind that transcends any individual brain. A mind that’s infinitely smarter than any single one of us.’
And there it is – the wisdom-of-crowds as emergent collective intelligence.
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