NOVA scienceNOW | Wisdom of the Crowds | PBS

http://www.pbs.org/nova/sciencenow Ask enough people to estimate something, and the average of all their guesses will get you surprisingly close to the right answer. Don't miss the new season of NOVA scienceNOW, airing every Wednesday at 9pm starting June 25 on PBS.

Watch past episodes of the program, try out interactives, and more on our Web site: http://www.pbs.org/nova/sciencenow

For more music, go to: http://www.robmorsberger.com/albums.html

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• crowds
• election
• math
• music
• NOVA
• now
• PBS
• Science
• sing-a-long
• song
• wikipedia
• wisdom

[nobodydobo]

Nobody was attempting to manipulate the crowd's perception of the cow.

[WWEinvadesTNA8]

i like NOVA scienceNOW. doesnt make you have to think so much.

[floridagirlful1]

I dont understand this video, I watched 3 times.. Can anyone please tell me what is this video about?

[aluisious]

Millions of people can make a wise decision together eh? We had 8 years of Bush.

[Contextcatcher]

Charles Bukowski his poem "The Genius of the Crowd" is about an average people too...with a total different outcome.

His fisrt line:

"There is enough treachery, hatred violence absurdity in the average

human being to supply any given army on any given day"

etc.

[bunnysick]

you are stuck in the ball game of only two choices the establishment wants you to be stuck in, no candidates, no parties, only issues, debated on forums, online local, state and national weekly votes. Bills written and edited by the people, views discussed by all sides, 100 different possible answers, the average is the middle ground...decisions by the people for once, throw out the representatives who only represent their highest bidders DEMAND DIRECT DEMOCRACY!

[derbiracerx]

and people are forced to choose from TWO answers not from whatever they might believe is correct. We can't average the complex decision making capabilities of the two candidates into the "correct" candidate let alone say that whatever our direct democratic vote would be is expressed in whatever the president chooses. This analogy WORKS for DIRECT DEMOCRACY. Representative democracy is complex and non-voting entities (corporations etc) are given a disproportionate $ based voice.

[malcolmbryant]

Love the 'Dick van Dyke' English accents!

[SailorBarsoom]

Why was this segment, of all the ones in that ipisode, set to music and made cartoonish?

[SailorBarsoom]

@trianglechoke7

Did you watch it past the part about the ox? The audience gets it right over 90% of the time.

[MrBipBipp]

wtf is this?

[100110100]

How could you ask Jimmy Wales to appear in your episode! He is a quack and you defiled your reputation for asking him to appear!