Crowds Are Smarter Than You Think

Turns out when you get people together and they decide on stuff, individuals might be quite wrong but the group's average can be surprisingly accurate. Also, slime molds are geniuses.
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Community Playlist:
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Music by

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The Good Stuff elsewhere:
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Produced by
Craig Benzine, Sam Grant, Matt Weber, David Wolff and Ryan Wolff
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References

[JakeJarvi]

Great video. Also, Matt's uncomfortable-with-eugenics face is hilarious. I need to have a conversation with him about eugenics just so I can see it again.

[imkindacoolish]

I just love these videos. So much better than most of the other "content" on YouTube

[drewthedweeeb]

i really enjoy these videos :) i learn a lot from them and they are very entertaining 

[wheezywaiter]

I surveyed 3000 people to find the exact wording for this coment. Oops, spelled 'comment' wrong. That was a waste of time.

[ChrisWEarly]

I've seen that model of the slime recreating the railways of Japan. It's so cool :D

[Jackallleo]

Really good video. Excited about this playlist!

[JoeM]

I remember learning about this in a poli sci class. Though I think we should give Aristotle some credit, because he was the first to write about this idea.

[LiterateChick]

interesting to know this about galton, I knew a bit about him when I was younger, and I even tried to replicate his findings with the ox with a jar of jelly beans once. except half way through getting enough test results i ate half the jelly beans. tip to young scientists: dont eat your experiment

[nawedy]

Why is the slimy mood so good at finding it's way?

[frigginboom]

So he did those scientific tests and found the voice of the people was surprisingly correct. I am surprised he didn't get rid of eugenics and marry a million people.

[thoea]

Good job Matt, I've got a new fave Good Stuff...

[jrbship]

Next time you do a collar-tug, might I recommend using the side opposite that of the microphone? Just a suggestion

[oyster]

If it is not too late, Twitch Plays Pokemon should be mentioned... somewhere... in this playlist.

[RichMunnichKaraokeGuy]

Wouldn't it be weird to find eugenic slime mold?

[twelge]

I'm calling my new band "The Slime Molds". Well never get lost on tour.

[michaelablyth]

Wow, I always wondered if single celled organisms could act as a group

[mariesoullier]

Francis Galton is kind of Bioshock's Zachary Comstock.

[dunx]

Great video! You made a minor error which will annoy any science geeks watching this: the species name is never capitalised, only the genus: it should be Physarum polycephalum.

[sportnenny]

I think clarification is necessary. Because on the internet, and when one person makes an effort to gather every single person's idea, crowds are indeed very smart and efficient. But in real life, you see that most groups are far less efficient than individuals, because of the exclusion that will inevitably happen--many in the group will never voice their ideas. Read 'Quiet' by Susan Cain for the specific studies. 

[Dushku]

People guessing the weight of an ox, not coming close, but averaging very close is an indication of the variation of human perception. Wikipedia is an indication of network strength. They're not comparable. Network strength is simply qualifying the potential we as a species have by working together.

For example, who uses Blackberry today? You can. It's still a thing. But most apps you would want are made for Apple or Android platforms. Windows might be a better phone, but less people are going to buy it because it's not Apple or Android.

Studies have shown that crowds of humans tend to resort to the lowest common denominator. It has to do with our evolution. You coalesce with the group because that's how you get your genes to the next generation. This is why people who might never hurt a fly will trample another human being in order to be able to be the first to get a Tickle Me Elmo doll. Because that's what everybody else is doing.

Hell, for that reason, it's why internet communication can be so toxic. Here it's less of what others are doing and more of a reduced perception of personal responsibility and consequences. Not to be coarse, but people will talk to you differently when the possibility you'll punch them in the face is on the table. If you were in a group that was looting an appliance store during a riot, the chances that you'd be held accountable for your actions is diminished.