Infotopia: How Many Minds Produce KnowledgeThe rise of the "information society" offers not only considerable peril but also great promise. Beset from all sides by a never-ending barrage of media, how can we ensure that the most accurate information emerges and is heeded? In this book, Cass R. Sunstein develops a deeply optimistic understanding of the human potential to pool information, and to use that knowledge to improve our lives. In an age of information overload, it is easy to fall back on our own prejudices and insulate ourselves with comforting opinions that reaffirm our core beliefs. Crowds quickly become mobs. The justification for the Iraq war, the collapse of Enron, the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia--all of these resulted from decisions made by leaders and groups trapped in "information cocoons," shielded from information at odds with their preconceptions. How can leaders and ordinary people challenge insular decision making and gain access to the sum of human knowledge? Stunning new ways to share and aggregate information, many Internet-based, are helping companies, schools, governments, and individuals not only to acquire, but also to create, ever-growing bodies of accurate knowledge. Through a ceaseless flurry of self-correcting exchanges, wikis, covering everything from politics and business plans to sports and science fiction subcultures, amass--and refine--information. Open-source software enables large numbers of people to participate in technological development. Prediction markets aggregate information in a way that allows companies, ranging from computer manufacturers to Hollywood studios, to make better decisions about product launches and office openings. Sunstein shows how people can assimilate aggregated information without succumbing to the dangers of the herd mentality--and when and why the new aggregation techniques are so astoundingly accurate. In a world where opinion and anecdote increasingly compete on equal footing with hard evidence, the on-line effort of many minds coming together might well provide the best path to infotopia. |
From inside the book
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Page 6
... opinions, and the sum of those opinions is usually right. 2. In 2003, the American Civil Liberties Union received thousands of pages of documents relating to the treatment of detainees being held at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba. The ACLU was ...
... opinions, and the sum of those opinions is usually right. 2. In 2003, the American Civil Liberties Union received thousands of pages of documents relating to the treatment of detainees being held at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba. The ACLU was ...
Page 7
... opinions; perhaps members will vote, anonymously or otherwise, after deliberation has occurred. Third, groups might use the price system and develop some kind of market, through which group members, or those outside of the group, buy ...
... opinions; perhaps members will vote, anonymously or otherwise, after deliberation has occurred. Third, groups might use the price system and develop some kind of market, through which group members, or those outside of the group, buy ...
Page 13
... opinions to percolate up through the agency's hierarchy,” even though, the board contended, effective safety programs require the encouragement of minority opinions and a willingness to acknowledge, rather than to conceal, bad news.15 ...
... opinions to percolate up through the agency's hierarchy,” even though, the board contended, effective safety programs require the encouragement of minority opinions and a willingness to acknowledge, rather than to conceal, bad news.15 ...
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Contents
3 | |
Chapter 1 The Occasional Power of Numbers | 21 |
Chapter 2 The Surprising Failures of Deliberating Groups | 45 |
Chapter 3 Four Big Problems | 75 |
Chapter 4 Money Prices and Prediction Markets | 103 |
Wikis Open Source Software and Blogs | 147 |
Chapter 6 Implications and Reforms | 197 |
Realizing Promises | 217 |
Prediction Markets | 227 |
Notes | 231 |
Index | 259 |
Other editions - View all
Infotopia:How Many Minds Produce Knowledge: How Many Minds Produce Knowledge Cass R. Sunstein No preview available - 2006 |
Common terms and phrases
accurate aggregate information asked average answer behavior Behavioral Finance believe better bias biased bloggers blogosphere blogs blunders Cambridge Condorcet Jury Theorem Consider copyleft correct answer create creativity decisions deliberating groups deliberative democracy democracy Democratic devil’s discussion dispersed information dispersed knowledge domains economic effects election emphasize ensure errors example experts extremely fact favor forecasts Google group judgments group members group polarization Group Processes Hayek hidden profiles Ibid improve incentives increase individual influences information held Informational cascades Internet investors involving Iowa Electronic Markets large number Lawrence Lessig leaders Lessig License likelihood majority ment minds morality movie open source software opinions outcomes participants people’s percent Policy Analysis Market political possible prediction markets price system problem questions reason relevant result Review risk Robin Hanson role sense shared simply Stasser statistical groups Suppose tion traders University Press users views vote Wikipedia wikis wrong Zagat Survey
References to this book
Information Technology and Moral Philosophy Jeroen van den Hoven,John Weckert No preview available - 2008 |