Topic: Social and Cultural Issues
The Wisdom of the Crowd Begs the Progressive Definition of Wisdom The Value of the Individual versus The Wisdom of the Crowd. Which side are you on?by Jahfre Fire Eater
(Libertarian)
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
I know that James Suroweicki's book, The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations has been out for several years but I have still not read it and I'm not likely to ever do so now that I so often run into other people who have. I do not want to be part of that crowd even though I did read the flaps and many reviews while trying to figure out why so many people of a certain category are referencing this phenomena lately. To determine if a crowd is wise or not the individual input from each member of the crowd must be mathematically manipulated (averaged, for instance) and the result compared to an actual outcome in the real world. Sure, I'll bet this book provides some eyebrow raising correlations. I'll also bet it does nothing to prove causation.
The problem I have with the notion of the wisdom of the crowd is that it is gaining an implied credibility from the frequency that it is mentioned. To me, this is a self-exposing fallacy. Computers and more specifically, inexpensive internet access, have enabled input from crowds to be obtained on a scale that was never possible before. It is no wonder entrepreneurs have been looking for ways to turn this resource into a marketable asset. I predict many will fail for one common reason...they do not understand that the value of a crowd's wisdom is being diluted at a rate comparable to how fast inflation is devaluing our currency and for much the same reason. Which is, of course, a deliberate plan by liberals in government to eradicate the concept of "The Value of the Individual."
This is nothing new. For a century or more just as our dollar has been losing the battle to retain its purchasing power individuals have been losing the battle to retain their ability to influence their community and thus their nation. The battle is not being lost on just one front either. While individuals are attacked primarily from the Left because an effective individual is the scourge of collectivism, there are many separate, specific, points of attack. What they have in common was described in Richard M. Weaver's Ideas Have Consequences way back in 1948 and his observations still hold true today only exponentially more so. Assaults on the individual generally take the form of dissect, dilute, obsess. This is why public schools are segregated by age so that the value of anyone other than your direct peers is veiled. At the earliest possible age children are taught to disrespect those beneath them and fear those above while at the same time being constantly shaped by the message that everyone is equal. Students who show resistance to the program that requires focus on one thing at a time are often diagnosed as 'suffering' from Attention Deficit / Hyper Activity Disorder and subsequently given medication to rectify their chronic Ritalin deficiency. In the past a concerned parent would be challenged to provide a diverse spectrum of activities and outlets for such tendencies. A parent would encourage children to become well-rounded and knowledgable in a wide variety of topics. Parents today act as if they know their children will grow up to be ants so they might as well do all they can to help them excel at ant-hood as early as possible. The system of knowledge and expression enjoyed by the founders of this nation is simply not known today. Instead, we take their work then dissect, dilute and obsess with that belief that our doing so somehow increases its value.
The goal of this deliberate devaluation of the individual is for the elite few to convince the untold masses that they are all equal. This is a mandatory step in the de-humanization of mankind for the greater good. In the past century the progressives have made tremendous progress toward this first necessary condition. Their biggest coup was getting the Republicans to abandon their organized defense of the individual thanks to their embracing of the Truman Doctrine and the Domino Theory of Communist Take Over crap that the frightened masses embraced as a nation; after that any idiot could get them to fear any enemy the government created. So much for the GOP's conservative roots...such as they were.
The concept of the wisdom of crowds is yet another tool the progressives (from any Party) are using to further their progress in the eradication of the individual. By 'another' I mean in addition to the personal income tax, public schools, entitlement programs, farm subsidies, oil subsidies, subsidies to consultants who specialize in recommending subsidies for local communities to provide unnecessary services simply because they qualify for federal subsidies, etc. I mean political correctness as a mode of communication, I mean eliminating relative grading of students and awarding ribbons to everyone who participated without recognition of any differences in ability, attitude or aptitude.
This trend yields moot the traditional value in experts...at least in some areas. I doubt the staunchest supporter of the homogenization of the populace would agree to let the wisdom of the crowd perform their next surgery or fly their next airplane. However, imagine the poor film critic who has spent the lion's share of his life learning how to add value to the film industry just by offering his opinion. In the wisdom of the crowd, his opinion is no more significant than his 5 year old daughter's if she has a Netflix account or an IMDB account she can post her opinion and it will be added to the list. If you know anyone who is currently pursuing a career in an opinion-based area now is the time to tell them to change plans or starve.
The wisdom of the crowd can only be valid if absolutely no filtering of input is done prior to the requisite mathematical manipulation of the raw data. To filter in any way would lend credence to the value of knowledge and experience. Any inkling of value in these traditional sources of wisdom renders the wisdom of the crowd nothing more than an academic navel gazing exercise...which I already believe it to be.
Even the Democratic Party elites of today do not fully believe in the wisdom of the crowd. They implemented the Super Delegates to prevent the crowd from making unwise choices. The irony of Democratic Super Delegates is so intense it must take a constant force of will for any Democrat to be able to refrain from just giving up the sham and admitting their whole world view is a self-contradictory, self-illusory figment of their navel gazing academic's and elite power broker's imaginations.
The very worst aspect of the wisdom of the crowd is that, by design, it has no mechanism for receiving feedback for improvement over time. Instead, it, along with the other tools and tactics employed by progressives, ensures just the opposite. Over time the crowd gets dumber, the influence of the experts is devalued until the crowd's wisdom is equivalent to randomness.
What other tools are being leveraged to great extent? Television, where shows ranging from Survivor, to American Idol, to Jay Leno give average people a shot at fame and fortune. True talent just has to take a number and wait behind lucky Joe because they are all equal. Radio, where call-in shows give the impression that the consensus built by callers is the wisdom of the crowd because they can hide the opinions of the portion of the crowd that disagrees by simply not taking their calls or taking opposing calls only so they can shout the caller down from the bully pulpit of the broadcast booth. YouTube, where everyone with a pulse can post snippets of their life, not to prove their value as a unique, empowered individual, but simply because YouTube doesn't judge their efforts on merit, only on views. Ego validation through click statistics is sapping the productive potential of countless able bodied adults. The YouTube rating system is just one example. Online gaming is another. There are countless blogs where you can comment on other people's opinions and even rate them. Heck, you may be reading one now.
The result of the constant pressure to relinquish individual aspirations and to join the ranks of the equal is unrest. Labor takes issue with management. Unskilled take issue with skilled. Amateurs take issue with professionals. When one buys into the sham that everyone is equal it is only natural to look around and begin to focus on other individuals with questions such as: Who are you to tell me what to do? Who are you to earn more money than me? Who are you to drive a bigger truck than me? Who are you to send your kids to a good school rather than a public school?
Yes, Mr. Weaver was absolutely right, ideas do indeed have consequences. Next time you hear someone extolling the virtues of the wisdom of the crowd do not forget the consequences of their ideas. Your individual value is a threat to them and they know it. You should too.
Jahfre Fire Eater
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2008 Jahfre Fire Eater, all rights reserved.
Published: Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Last modified: Tuesday, April 15, 2008
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I consider myself fairly knowledgeable, and I do not take Ritalin. The wisdom of the crowd is inherently stupid. For a long time the world's scientist had a consensus that the world was flat, Negros were a different species than the white man, and that flight was impossible. My, how times have changed!
Posted By: Jahfre Fire Eater
Date: 2008-04-15 17:38:59
Thank you for a perfect example. Regarding 'knowledgeable' versus 'knowledgable' you'll have to take that up with the experts for I am a lowly spell check and dictionary.com user ... also, my spell checker doesn't know many drug names and I guess neither do I. Thanks for the comment but I'm still not sure if you read it or just ran your flavor of spell check on it.
I understand your concern. Believe me I can not survive in a strict conformist environment.
We are not bees or ants or fish swimming in a school. But does that mean we can not use what is positive about that behavior to enhance our civilization?
Would that have to mean "thinking outside the box" must be outlawed? I feel like that is probably your concern. If I got it wrong sorry.
Mindless obedience to POP culture or blind allegiance to an ideology is one thing but harmonious cooperation is entirely different animal.
It's one thing to sit and play your guitar all by yourself. And something all together different if you want to play in a quartet.
Why does it always have to be all or nothing with human behavior?
Posted By: Jahfre Fire Eater
Date: 2008-04-16 08:06:39
Hi Jim,
I think human nature is not all-or-nothing. In fact, I think such a trend is not natural at all; which is why it must be enforced and encouraged in so many ways throughout our culture.
Unfortunately, a century of such pressure to conform has had a dramatic effect on the common or popular thinking. If I had a nickel for every time I heard someone begin to espouse their plans for whatever goal they have in mind by starting with "If everyone would just...." I'd have a hefty sack of nickels.
Well, everyone won't. Now what? Yes, use the force of law to punish thinking outside the box. That has certainly been tried before. But that isn't really my concern. My concern is that this trend will continue, unnoticed by most, for generation after generation until there is no need to outlaw thinking outside the box because the notion simply wouldn't cross anyone's mind.
The real point of my article is vigilence. Each of us is involved in the eternal struggle for the defense of individual liberty. My article was just a reminder of that.
It is always preferable to read a book before you critique it at length. This is not a question of individualism vs collectivism. But then you would have to have read the book to know that.
Posted By: Jahfre Fire Eater
Date: 2008-04-27 07:07:11
Holy cow, it took weeks for someone to take that bait. But then I don't have a very big readership unless I put Ron Paul in the title of my articles.
Rick, in case you never do get around to reading this article that you criticized me for I'll fill you in. I mentioned a book that I haven't read and I made a conjecture about it but my article was about the consequences of an idea, not a critique of a book. If you read it and missed the point I have to believe it was one you aren't ready to get...but there's always tomorrow.
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2008 Jahfre Fire Eater, all rights reserved.