A clever crowd

The supposed wisdom of the crowds

A clever crowdI enjoy watching people think they’re smarter than those around them. I don’t just mean the wise guy in the kick-off meeting or the blowhard in the First Class cabin. I enjoy watching this behavior magnified in large groups. 

I see this a lot while skiing. People of all ages, backgrounds, experience levels, and familiarity all come together in a handful of locations:

As people get off the mountain after a long day they just want to get to their car and go home. But, before they reach their car they have to take a short bus ride to the parking lot. Unfortunately they aren’t the only ones and spot two long lines of people waiting for a bus. Instead of thinking “these people all must be waiting patiently for the next bus which has a front and back door” they start to question the crowd and believe they have a better plan. They likely try two “outsmart” stunts: first, they see the next bus, spot it dropping skiers off at the drop-off zone five yards away, then run over to the bus which promptly closes it’s doors and pulls up to the two lines. Then, stunt two is realizing they should have just stood in line, but then spot a much shorter line with a smaller bus just a few feet away. They immediately jump on that bus and pat themselves on the back for beating the wisdom of the crowd. Of course, they arrive at entirely the wrong destination just a few minutes later and come back to start this over again. 

I also hear a handful of individuals “outsmart” the 50 or so people that get on the bus with all their gear (skis,  poles) in-hand despite the ski-shaped slots appearing on the sides of the bus. Instead of thinking “all of these people must not place their skis in the slots for a good reason” they spend 15 seconds trying to jam their wide powder skis into holes that were designed for narrow downhill skis many years ago. We all know it’s a round hole and that you’re carrying a square peg.

I get it: sometimes you don’t understand the situation presented to you and you want to figure it out, perhaps even improve it. I love disruptive technologies and ideas that question the status quo. But in a crowd that may consider the current experience routine, there are literally hundreds that have been there before you and learned so you don’t have to. Why not realize there is prior knowledge implicitly being shared? 

Do individuals really think they are smarter than everyone around them in these situations? This is not a rhetorical question. I simply don’t appreciate the line of thinking previously described. Is there a inhibition of common sense when you think you can defeat a situation?

What surprises me even more, though is the inverse: the mob mentality. I’m shocked by the terrible things said and done when people become anonymous in a crowd. Whether it’s encouraging potential suicide victims by chanting “jump” or yelling hateful, racist, ignorant comments at people different from themselves. 

Is there a wisdom of the crowds? At what point do you ignore it and which situations benefit learning from it?

This entry was posted in Life, Personal on by .

About Devin Reams

My name is Devin Reams and I founded this site to provide a useful news and review resource for Colorado skiers and snowboarders (and mountain enthusiasts). I've been skiing since I was a little kid (we moved out here when I was five years old) and I plan to ski for years beyond that. Although cosnow is not my full-time job it is my full-time winter hobby. I've been an "Epic Local" passholder since 2006 (when it was called a "Colorado Pass" or "Five Mountain Pass"). My favorite resorts are Beaver Creek and Breckenridge.

5 thoughts on “The supposed wisdom of the crowds

  1. Brook Reams

    Dev,

    I think we have all watched this suboptimal optimization process, and dare I say, participated in it at one time or another [think lane changing on the freeway during rush hour, for example :-) ]

    This article,
    http://www.newsweek.com/2011/02/27/i-can-t-think.html

    may have some bearing on why more of us engage in this behavior. If “quick” rather than “thoughtful” decision making has become a habit due to how you make decisions at work (see the article), you may not be able to recognize that pattern. If you aren’t aware of the pattern, you can’t consciously abandon it when you don’t need it, as would be the case when deciding the best way to catch the bus.

    The pattern of action you describe fits well with a mental habit of being quick, rather than thoughtful, when making choices. I note that the same wasted motion and almost comically behavior you describe at the bus stop is increasingly evident in businesses everywhere. I suspect it’s the same choice of decision making habit developed from trying to handle continuous context switching caused by information bombardment as described in the article.

    It’s well documented that we don’t change how we process information (aka, our habit of forming habits and unconciously applying them to every situation) unless forced to do so. Drawing attention to the comical outcome you describe might be the first step in deciding to use more than one decision making tool … if we can stop processing the information bombardment in the world around us long enough to have that thought :-)

    Reply
    1. Devin Reams Post author

      I think you’re onto something here with regard to the quick “outsmart” decisions being made. But what’s scary is the mobs are making “thoughtful” decisions (if thoughtful is the opposite of quick, in this description).

      Reply
  2. Brook Reams

    Well, as the title of you blog said, the majority did act in the more thoughful way. That bodes well as it suggests more “thougtful” decision making by the majority. Now, if I could get them to apply for jobs at my company … :-)

    Reply
  3. Andrew Ferguson

    Crowd wisdom can be good…but one has to be careful of wisdom that is handed down. A story I heard at work to illustrate:

    Start with a cage containing five monkeys. In the cage, hang a banana on a string and put stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana.

    As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the monkeys with cold water. After a while, another monkey will make an attempt with the same response — all of the monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Keep this up for several days.

    Turn off the cold water. If, later, another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it even though no water sprays them.

    Now, remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his horror, all of the other monkeys attack him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.

    Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm.

    Replace the third original monkey with a new one. The new one makes it to the stairs and is attacked as well. Two of the four monkeys that beat him have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs, or why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey.

    After replacing the fourth and fifth original monkeys, all the monkeys which have been sprayed with cold water have been replaced. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs.

    Why not?

    “Because that’s the way it’s always been done around here.”

    Reply

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