[...] under the right circumstances, groups are remarkably intelligent, and are often smarter than the smartest people in them. [...] These groups are all very different, but they have in common the ability to act collectively to make decisions and solve problems - even if the people in the groups aren’t always aware that’s what they’re doing.

Book: J. Surowiecki. "The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few". Abacus, 2005. [Amazon]