| | Yes, well so goes the conventional wisdom. But crowds actually can be much, much smarter than the cliche makes out.
Y'all should have a look at Jamie Surowiecki's recent "The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations". It's a nice challenge to the traditional view. An Amazon reviewer summarises my reaction nicely:
"...I have long been an admirer of H. L. Mencken who once wrote, "No one is this world, so far as I know, has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people....By the time I finished this book, I believed Mencken was wrong."
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0385503865/qid=1126994026/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-2217118-6157408?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
- Daniel
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Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. 
