Ask enough people to estimate something, and the average of their guesses will get you surprisingly close to the right answer.
1)Someone asks you a random question, out of 100%, 90% of the time you may not get that answer.
2)But if that same person asks an audience that same random question, out of 100% of the time when you gather everyone's data or answer 99.99% of the time it's correct. That is the explanation of the phrase "wisdom of the crowds".
The study of how physically assembled groups behave in social contexts—protests, concerts, sporting events, religious gatherings. Social crowds have their own psychology: they're more emotional than individuals, more suggestible, more capable of collective action. They can also be more generous (crowds at benefits give more) and more dangerous (crowds at riots destroy more). The psychology of social crowds explains why people do things in groups they'd never do alone—the diffusion of responsibility, the intensification of emotion, the sense of anonymous power. It also explains why crowds can be so moving—the sense of belonging, of being part of something larger, of losing the self in something greater.
Psychology of Social Crowds Example: "At the concert, she felt the crowd psychology take over—singing along with thousands, arms in the air, completely present. She wasn't herself anymore; she was part of something larger. Later, alone, she couldn't recreate the feeling. That's crowd psychology: it only exists in the crowd, which is why people keep coming back."
The study of how physically assembled groups will behave in a future of augmented reality, brain-computer interfaces, and perhaps even telepathic connection. Crowds of the third millennium may not need to speak—they might share thoughts directly, experience collective emotions instantaneously, coordinate without visible signals. The psychology will be more intense, more immersive, more dangerous. A crowd that shares thoughts is a crowd that can't hide dissent; a crowd that feels together is a crowd that can be manipulated at neurological levels. The psychology of the crowds of the third millennium raises questions about individuality, autonomy, and the very meaning of being a person in a world where boundaries between selves can dissolve at will.
Psychology of the Crowds of the Third Millennium Example: "The VR concert was a glimpse of third-millennium crowd psychology—thousands of avatars, millions of remote viewers, all experiencing the same music in personalized ways. The crowd wasn't in one place, but it felt like a crowd. When the artist spoke, everyone heard in their own language. When the beat dropped, everyone felt it simultaneously. The psychology was new, but the emotions were ancient: connection, belonging, joy."