Big Mind: How Collective Intelligence Can Change Our World

by Geoff Mulgan

Overview

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.

Highlighting differences between environments that stimulate intelligence and those that blunt it, Mulgan shows how human and machine intelligence could solve challenges in business, climate change, democracy, and public health. But for that to happen we’ll need radically new professions, institutions, and ways of thinking.

Informed by the latest work on data, web platforms, and artificial intelligence, Big Mind shows how collective intelligence could help us survive and thrive.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691170794
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	11/28/2017
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Geoff Mulgan is professor of collective intelligence, public policy, and social innovation at University College London, and a senior visiting scholar at Harvard University’s Ash Center. He was the founder of the think tank Demos and director of the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit and head of policy under Tony Blair. His books include The Locust and the Bee (Princeton) and Good and Bad Power (Penguin).

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Introduction Collective Intelligence as a Grand Challenge 1

Part I

What Is Collective Intelligence? 9

1 The Paradox of a Smart World 11

2 The Nature of Collective Intelligence in Theory and Practice 14

Part II Making Sense of Collective Intelligence as Choice 33

3 The Functional Elements of Collective Intelligence 35

4 The Infrastructures That Support Collective Intelligence 48

5 The Organizing Principles of Collective Intelligence 60

6 Learning Loops 70

7 Cognitive Economics and Triggered Hierarchies 76

8 The Autonomy of Intelligence 90

9 The Collective in Collective Intelligence 99

10 Self-Suspicion and Fighting the Enemies of Collective Intelligence 119

Part III Collective Intelligence in Everyday Life 129

11 Mind-Enhancing Meetings and Environments 131

12 Problem Solving: How Cities and Governments Think 145

13 Visible and Invisible Hands: Economies and Firms as Collective Intelligence 161

14 The University as Collective Intelligence 174

15 Democratic Assembly 181

16 How Does a Society Think and Create as a System? 193

17 The Rise of Knowledge Commons: It’s for Everyone 200

Part IV Collective Intelligence as Expanded Possibility 215

18 Collective Wisdom and Progress in Consciousness 217

Afterword: The Past and Future of Collective

Intelligence as a Discipline 229

Summary of the Argument 237

Notes 239

Index 263

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"A fascinating and important book."—James Crabtree, Financial Times

"Brilliant. . . . Mulgan outlines the elements of CI, which has informed collaborations from the Manhattan project and NASA’s moon landings to Google Maps and Wikipedia."—Kirkus Reviews

"Enlightening—indeed inspiring—and should be read by all citizens."—Martin Rees, former president of the Royal Society

"Big Mind brims with pragmatic, unexpected insights. Mulgan filters his awe-inspiring breadth of academic knowledge through the lens of decades of practical experience."—Scott Page, University of Michigan

"A book the world needs. . . . Magnificent."—Jeremy Heimans, coauthor of New Power

Editorial Reviews

"A perfect introduction to collective intelligence. . . . The book draws on subjects such as social psychology, computer sciences and economics, as well as the author’s experiences as co-founder of the think tank Demos."

Arab News

"An engaging and important read."

Paradigm Explorer

★ 2017-09-19
How thought happens on a large scale.Why do some organizations seem so much smarter than others? Can people think together successfully in groups? How can technology help? In this brilliant, somewhat heady, but generally accessible book, Mulgan (The Locust and the Bee: Predators and Creators in Capitalism's Future, 2015, etc.), chief executive of Nesta, Britain's National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, shows how the answers can be found in the emerging field of collective intelligence, which links people and machines to foster "dramatic jumps" in group intelligence. The smarter outcome does not happen automatically; it must be carefully orchestrated. The tools for CI are expensive, found mainly in the military and finance and rarely in the health and environmental sectors. Were they widely available, writes the author, they could give us a "truly global intelligence" that "could solve global problems—from pandemics to climate threats, violence to poverty." Drawing on such disciplines as social psychology, computer science, and economics, as well as his experiences as a co-founder of the think tank Demos, Mulgan outlines the elements of CI, which has informed collaborations from the Manhattan project and NASA's moon landings to Google Maps and Wikipedia. His recounting of a well-known past attempt to organize collaborative thought on a large scale—the Oxford English Dictionary, which engaged a huge army of volunteers working according to strict rules—illustrates nicely how the orchestration and properties of a group "far exceed the capabilities of any one part." The author examines the many elements of CI, making clear how computers have enhanced our capabilities, from observation to memory, and shows how they work in real-life settings like the economy, universities, and meetings of all kinds. "Environments that are stimulating, demanding, and engaging will tend to enhance intelligence," he writes.An essential primer on an important new discipline.

Kirkus Reviews

One of The Guardian’s Favourite Reads of 2017 as chosen by scientists

From the Publisher