The wisdom of crowds is a view that most people are right most of the time. The most obvious example is the "how many jelly beans in this jar?" question. As the book of the same name sets out, the most probable answer is close to the sum of the guesses divided by the number of guessers, assuming a large number of entries

Following the crowd or, worse, making assumptions based only on generally-available information is not always the best solution. Even the betting markets can be wrong, as those who, like me, assumed Trump would not win can attest. These Forums are full of assertions by members about other members (most of whom they've never met - my friendship with a447 being the most obvious exception) based on inferences based solely on the assumed tone of what they write. Many have pleaded for the poster's IP address to be published so they can "prove" one or other pet assertion about his identity (I'm happy for the owners to publish the IP addresses of my last 20 posts by the way)

So I was intrigued when I cam across an article about how to improve on the wisdom of crowds by encouraging more diverse responses through selective rewards. Of course, it does require always keeping an open mind as well as a vigorous sense of curiosity, something possibly beyond many of the posters here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PejjvNAY_zc