Cultural-Historical Perspectives on Collective Intelligence : Patterns in Problem Solving and Innovation

Social creatures, like humans, solve problems together. Collective intelligence is essential in all organizations and societies if we want to resolve humanity's greatest challenges. This book explores how to deploy new practices such as crowdsourcing and online knowledge sharing. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

In the era of digital communication, collective problem solving is increasingly important. Large groups can now resolve issues together in completely different ways, which has transformed the arts, sciences, business, education, technology, and medicine. Collective intelligence is something we share with animals and is different from machine learning and artificial intelligence. To design and utilize human collective intelligence, we must understand how its problem-solving mechanisms work. From democracy in ancient Athens, through the invention of the printing press, to COVID-19, this book analyzes how humans developed the ability to find solutions together. This wide-ranging, thought-provoking book is a game-changer for those working strategically with collective problem solving within organizations and using a variety of innovative methods. It sheds light on how humans work effectively alongside machines to confront challenges that are more urgent than what humanity has faced before. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.