In crowd wisdom, the 'surprisingly popular' answer can trump ignorance of the masses

(Princeton University) Crowd wisdom tends to favor the most popular information, not necessarily the most correct -- mass ignorance can cancel out a knowledgeable minority, resulting in the wrong answer becoming the most accepted. To improve wisdom-of-crowds surveys, Princeton University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have developed what they call the 'surprisingly popular' algorithm, wherein the correct answer is that which is more popular than people predict.

from EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science http://ift.tt/2kjxAlR