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We wrote above that we are not interested in the opposite of wisdom of the masses. However, stupidity from the masses is equally educational. Several books have been written about this stupidity, which the English even call insanity:

  • The Madness of Crowds – Gender, Race and Identity – Douglas Murray 2019
  • Markets, Mobs, and Mayhem – A Modern Look at the Madness of Crowds – Robert Menschel 2002
  • Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (3 vols) – Charles MacKay ao 1871
    Charles MacKay’s book has been republished several times, for example as late as 2014. James Surowiecki used the title in 2004 to popularize the ideas of Francis Galton and many who came after him about the phenomenon. Surowiecki called his book ‘Wisdom of the Crowds’. It contains numerous examples. In doing so, you discover that it is still possible, depending on the problem, that a mass of lay people know better than the expert.
  • Fancis Galton wrote an article in Nature about his observation with the ox, which appeared on March 7, 1907
  • Professor of Econometrics Kenneth Walllis re-examined Francis Galton’s article in 2014
  • Two researchers from Microsoft and one from Google looked at smaller, smarter crowds
  • Bas Jacobs wrote his master’s thesis on the value of the masses in the pre-play of the 2014 World Cup
  • Hughes and Yampolskiy of Louisville’s Speed ​​School of Engineering Wanted to Solve Sudokus with the Wisdom of the Masses
  • About the robbery in the Ritz, in which the criminals used lasers, we wrote in the report Casino robberies . An article in The Guardian deals specifically with the lasers as wisdom of the masses.