James Surowiecki begins his book The Wisdom of Crowds with a description of Sir Francis Galton’s visit to a country fair in 1906. Galton witnessed a competition where members of the crowd guessed the weight of an ox after slaughtering and dressing. Galton analyzed 787 guesses from crowd members including priests, schoolgirls, and clerks.  The crowd’s average estimate was 1,197 lbs.  The ox weighed 1,198 lbs.

Individuals are subject to biases, prejudices, emotions, and…