Big Mind

How Collective Intelligence Can Change Our World

By: Geoff Mulgan

Narrated by: Julian Elfer

A new field of collective intelligence has emerged in the last few years, prompted by a wave of digital technologies that make it possible for organizations and societies to think at large scale. This "bigger mind" - human and machine capabilities working together - has the potential to solve the great challenges of our time. So why do smart technologies not automatically lead to smart results? Gathering insights from diverse fields, including philosophy, computer science, and biology, Big Mind reveals how collective intelligence can guide corporations, governments, universities, and societies to make the most of human brains and digital technologies.

Geoff Mulgan explores how collective intelligence has to be consciously organized and orchestrated in order to harness its powers. He looks at recent experiments mobilizing millions of people to solve problems, and at groundbreaking technology like Google Maps and Dove satellites. He also considers why organizations full of smart people and machines can make foolish mistakes - from investment banks losing billions to intelligence agencies misjudging geopolitical events - and shows how to avoid them.

©2018 Princeton University Press (P)2017 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Very interesting

This book is a great overview of what is known and what is not on a most interesting subject. Must read for anyone thinking about intelligence, whether individual, collective or artificial.

Brilliant and mind expanding

This is not a review where I will describe key themes or concepts, as I cannot do this book justice with my written words.

Throughly enjoyed the intellectual journey and explanations that fill this book.

This is a book for anyone wanting to explore the concepts of collective intelligence in the digital era.

Great overview of the benefits of collecting intelligence.

Really good 30,000 ft view of the wisdom of crowds (also great book) the idea that we can and should leverage our collective intelligence is a helpful paradigm for encouraging faith in our strength as humanity.

The world of collective intelligence

Collective intelligence is shown by the author to come in many forms. The basic definition being intelligence gathered through the accumulation of many agents without necessarily any single leader.

The book is quite intricate in its dissection of the term. It also shows that it does not always work well and In some cases it fails miserably.

The interesting part of the book comes at the end when he starts talking about the intersection of modern connectivity with the input of the many, wisdom of the crowd and the future of decision making through ideas assembled by the many, and the potential political evolution with such collective power.

All in all a pretty good book, although I would have liked more exotic predictions of collective intelligence in light of the tremendous technological progress and prospects of the near future.

Useful review of collective intelligence

Good discussion and review of concepts in collective intelligence. Some aspects seem overly optimistic, but overall a thoughtful treatment of the area. Some concepts were thought provoking for my own research.