Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

"Wisdom of Crowds" Works For Individuals Too

Posted by kdawson on from the I-am-large-I-contain-multitudes dept.

ideonexus writes "Take a crowd of people and have them guess how many jelly beans are in a jar, and the average of their answers will be remarkably accurate. Now researchers have found the same goes for asking one person to guess about the same thing several times. Accuracy improved when the individual was given longer periods of time between guesses." The anonymous author of the Economist piece, not quoting the researchers, says the finding bolsters the "generate and test" model of creative thinking.

3 of 158 comments (clear)

  1. A little biased by InvisblePinkUnicorn · · Score: 5, Funny

    Granted, the tests were done on the Price is Right.

    "600 jelly beans?"

    "Higher"

    "900?"

    "Looower...."

  2. Ah duh! by mspohr · · Score: 5, Funny

    The amazing discovery they made is that when people had time to think about a question, they gave better answers. This is profound.

    --
    I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
    1. Re:Ah duh! by Talderas · · Score: 5, Funny

      The point is that while thinking long and hard about some problems can be helpful (e.g. designing something complex and technical), for other kinds of problems, added thought can hinder (e.g. when there are many confounding unknowns).

      So that explains why most /.ers are single.

      --
      "Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork