Crowds have
a rather special wisdom.
 |
| Surowiecki's book. |
In fact the
idea that crowds do have a cumulative knowledge that exceeds the individual
prompted a staff writer at The New Yorker, James Surowiecki, to write a book
about that very topic.
Writing in
“The Wisdom of Crowds” Surowiecki explored how and why it is that many seem to
instinctively know more than one.
In
considering why it is the crowd is wise, he investigated many things and
stripped the idea of its finery by reminding readers that on a busy footpath
when hundreds are walking toward each other, collisions are almost unseen.
The crowd
moving to a fro on the footpath, according to Surowiecki, instinctively avoid
each other without uttering a word or making any sign.
That, he
argues, is the wisdom of crowds at its most basic.
Democracy
is the epitome of that wisdom to which will all unknowingly contribute, but despite
the richness of that knowledge we do sometimes get it wrong.
An example
of the demos failing to understand its fallibility can be seen in the outcome
of the recent City of Greater Shepparton Council elections – 26 people offered
themselves for one of seven positions and from that rich bounty we had the
chance to assemble a group with the skills and vision to guide the city, but we
didn’t.
The
Goulburn Valley revolves around Greater Shepparton and so the city needs
innovative leaders able to identify our strength and weaknesses, able to escape
from the rigidity of repetitive behaviour and ease our communities into a new
way of living; a process that will see us prosper primarily socially to give
our communities an ecological and subsequently an economic advantage.
We live in
world burdened by the idea that economic success is the key to social and environment
matters when it is in fact a palatable life arises from exactly the opposite,
for once we bring order to social and environmental matters, the economy falls
into lockstep.
For too
long economic concerns have driven council and although that maybe how it needs
to be given the over-riding attitude of society, there comes a time when
communities such as ours need to step back from the commercial rush of life and
turn our attention to the broader wellbeing of people who live here.
A common,
but ultimately destructive, business adage of “what gets measured, gets done”
reflects the relatively simple activity of measuring monetary activity, when
what we need is a council prepared to address the complex and difficult understand
concepts of wellbeing, contentment and happiness.
The contemporary
adversarial role of councilors needs to be collaborative, positive and friendly
establishing a benchmark from which all other groups and individuals throughout
the city would gauge and so adjust their contribution.
