‘Proles vs. pros: An experiment in curating’: Applicable to e-books (and P, too)?
Can "a horde of disconnected individuals" do as well as the pros, in judging photos? The results from a Brooklyn experiment suggest some hope. Applicable to e- and p-books? And the stock market and politics?
Related: The Wisdom of Crowds, by James Surowiecki, and the classic Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crows, by Charles Mackay (freebie here). Take your pick!
My take on the general issue: Depends on how well informed the crowd is. In choosing our leaders, alas, the U.S. electorate hasn’t exactly been the best advertisement for mass picks lately—perhaps partly because the oft-corporate-bought mass media have dumbed down the country and just plain lied. For now, Wikipedia often seems to work better, given its editors’ efforts to resist manipulation by corporations and pols.
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