Early humans used social skills to work together to protect themselves from predators and to successfully hunt. Communication proved an invaluable tool in allowing for this arrangement. 


San Jose State University

- Gower's Collaborative Theorem
- Collective Intelligence in Early Humans
- Collective Intelligence in the Agricultural Revolution
- Collective Intelligence in the Industrial Revolution
- Collective Intelligence in Businesses
- Collective Intelligence in Crises

Examples of Collective Intelligence

Malone, Thomas W. 2018. Superminds: The Surprising Power of People and Computers Thinking Together. Little, Brown Spark.

https://cci.mit.edu/superminds-by-thomas-w-malone/

Superminds: The Surprising Power of People and Computers Thinking Together

Google uses the collective intelligence of the entire web to present impressively accurate answers to questions typed into the Google search engine. Wikipedia is the world’s largest encyclopedia, offering high quality information with practically no centralized control. The clothing company Threadless allows people to submit t-shirt designs to a weekly contest, then produces a select few designs from those that are most highly rated by users. So this means that for businesses, collective intelligence can be used to (a) know consumer desires and (b) create products that satisfy these desires at little to no cost.

Examples of the success of collective intelligence in companies

Collective Intelligence in the modern age is having a big impact on how crises are seen and dealt with. Scholars are interested in how social media plays a role in the creation of collective intelligence during a crisis.  

Using Collective Intelligence in Crises

In 2009 Tim Gower's attempted to conduct a mathematical theorem using massive collaboration. By way of a blog he invited anyone on the internet to collaborate in providing a theorem. Ultimately the project included 39 people that made a total of over 1500 comments 

Gower’s Collaborative Theorem

Early Humans and Collective Intelligence

Diversified and specialized social roles developed with the agricultural revolution. This required many people doing many more specific tasks. The result was the vast growth of the human population from 12,000 years ago until 1700 CE. This was facilitated by advancements in communication, such as writing. 

Collective Intelligence in the Agricultural Revolution

The Industrial Revolution, starting in the 1700s, marked a period of significant collective intelligence and productivity growth. Factories and machines, combined with innovative organizational methods, increased productivity. For example, the division of labor in a pin factory led to substantial efficiency gains. This era also saw the rise of larger communities, such as the global scientific community, facilitated by evolving information technologies. The world population grew from 600 million to over 7 billion in 300 years, highlighting human dominance over the planet, which now presents its own challenges. These outcomes were not solely due to individual intelligence but the result of collectively intelligent groups of people and their technologies.

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