Varieties of Collective Intelligence

Seven Forms of Collective Intelligence

The diverse kinds of collective intelligence include the following, most of which include a link to an example:
    •     the collective intelligence generated by high quality conversations among diverse people working together <http://www.taoofdemocracy.com/sample.html>
    •     the collective intelligence generated by independent participants in markets and contests <http://www.randomhouse.com/features/wisdomofcrowds/excerpt.html>
•   the collective intelligence of birds flocking, ant colonies self-organizing, and jazz musicians jamming "in the groove" <http://wie.org/j25/teamwork.asp>
    •     the collective intelligence of info/knowledge/communication systems weaving together the knowledge and mental capacities of groups, organizations, or the whole world <http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/SUPORGLI.html>
    •     collective intelligence in the form of psycho-spiritual fields we can reach through meditation and deep dialogue <http://www.collectivewisdominitiative.org/>
•   the collective intelligence embodied in social structures like belief systems, cultural stories, success criteria, community-supportive design, decision-making processes, etc. <http://www.co-intelligence.org/P-qualtylifeindicators.html>
    •     the collective intelligence of whole societies that weave all of these into their cultures and into their political, governmental and economic institutions.

For more information on forms of collective intelligence, see
http://www.community-intelligence.com/blogs/public/2004/05/notes_on_forms_of_collective_i.html


System levels of human collective intelligence

Human collective intelligence manifests differently at different levels of human system.  Some human systems whose collective intelligence we can observe and nurture are the following:
•    Individual collective intelligence (among our own internal subjective parts and voices)
•    Interpersonal / relational collective intelligence
•    Group collective intelligence
•    Activity collective intelligence
•    Organizational collective intelligence
•    Network collective intelligence
•    Neighborhood collective intelligence
•    Community collective intelligence
•    Citywide collective intelligence
•    County / shire collective intelligence
•    State / province collective intelligence
•    Regional collective intelligence
•    National / societal collective intelligence
•    International collective intelligence
•    Global / species-wide (humanity's) collective intelligence


Emerging and converging fields involving collective intelligence.

The following fields of study and practice have an emergent, leading edge quality to them and, at the same time, seem to be overlapping more and more, and even converging into an increasingly coherent understanding of the collective intelligence of whole systems, and of Life as a whole. Increasingly, these fields are using methodologies, language, metaphors and narratives from each other to support and describe what seem to be manifestations of the same patterns in different realms and at different levels.

We can further the evolution of our cultures towards becoming a multicultural global wisdom society by supporting these and other such diverse fields to discover each other, talk together and collaborate.

•  "Group magic," especially through dialogue or attunement (e.g., collective meditation), including all the methodologies of healthy group co-creativity

•  Self-organization theory and methods -- including chaos and complexity theories, living systems theory (including cybernetics, ecology, permaculture and evolutionary biology), network theory, the "invisible hand" of the market, "swarm intelligence" and flocking behavior, etc.

•  Social/transpersonal applications of the new physics, particularly quantum and field theories, such as morphogenic fields and synchronicity

•  Transpersonal and Jungian psychology, non-dualistic spirituality, psychic phenomena and other studies of psycho-spiritual phenomena beyond the individual ego

•  The dynamics of collective behavior studied by social psychology

•  Efforts to revitalize community and democracy, including public participation, deliberative democracy and creative forms of spiritual politics, community organizing and nonviolent activism

•  Open source challenges to the proprietary confinement of knowledge, innovation and co-creativity in software, the arts, business, etc.

•  Open Source Intelligence challenges to the over-dependence on spying and secrecy which neglects public sources of information and inhibits cross-fertilization of intelligence not only in government but in society at large

•  Information, communication and knowledge systems (usually computer-based or -enhanced) (most of the "global brain" theories are grounded here)

•  Theories that expand our understanding of intelligence and cognition -- both individual and collective -- including some leading-edge educational theories

•  The 21st century imperative for transformation, evolution and wisdom (driven by global crises and often based in spirituality) -- and our growing understanding of the dynamics of transformation and evolution. This relates to the human potential movement, especially as it expands into social and collective human potential.

•  Participatory and collaborative practices in all sectors and for all reasons

•  The study and use of "decision markets" (systems for aggregating the independent actions, bets or estimates of hundreds of people) -- for prediction, fact-guessing and pattern-clarification (e.g., Amazon.com's "people who bought this also bought that" function)

•  Holistic studies of all types, including general exploration of the nature of wholeness, the relationship between parts and wholes, and holistic patterns like fractals, holographs, and holons.

•  Group and organizational dynamics, particularly studies of "groupthink" as well as the theory and practice of learning organizations, teams, communities of practice, and similar approaches to organizational development, innovation, and transformation

•  Work involving the many manifestations of human difference -- including conflict, polarization, stakeholders, personality types, cognitive styles, socially charged "diversity" (race, gender, class, etc.), and so on -- and the role of diversity, in general, in living systems


The "field" of collective intelligence

When some of us involved with this subject began speaking of "convening the field of collective intelligence," we ran into the fact that there are two definitions of field.

1. "an area of human activity or interest" or "a topic, a subject, or an area of study, practice, or academic specialization" (as in "the field of psychology" or "the field of city planning").

2. "a physical, social and/or psycho-spiritual space which contains information and power capable of effecting what is within it" (as in "electromagnetic field" or "morphogenic field").

It is obvious from what we have said so far that the first definition applies: "Collective intelligence" is definitely a field of interest, study and practice.  Its rapid growth in so many quarters also suggests there is a zeitgeist -- a spirit of the times or meme field -- which all this activity is generating and being influenced by -- which is more within the realm of the second definition. So one could legitimately "convene the field" by connecting and convening people from all these different activities and/or by communicating integrative messages into the vast social space they already occupy and/or by engaging directly -- psycho-spiritually -- with the field of consciousness associated with all this activity.

This pattern is also reflected in certain diverse views about group work, group magic, and group intelligence.  Some people see this magic and intelligence arising out of dynamic synergies between diverse group members, so they tend to focus on the group's diversity and the quality of its interaction and dialogue.  Others see the group's magic and intelligence as coming from outside the group, from a higher intelligence, or from a field of intelligence in which the group is embedded, of which it is a part.  Practitioners who hold this latter view tend to focus on the ability of the group to be receptive and to attune to each other and to the larger intelligence they seek to relate to.  Dialogue, if it is practiced at all, is in service to that attunement; and often practices like meditation, prayer, or "attending to the center" take precedence.

When presented with this dichotomy, whole systems practitioner Peggy Holman suggested, "This is a case of particle and wave. The first perspective sees the group in terms of its particles, or people, interacting.  The second sees the group intelligence as a field phenomenon.  Particle and wave.  Both are always present.  However, as in physics, which you see depends on how you set up the experiment."

Author: Tom Atlee

Further resources

You will find rich--although far from exhaustive--collections of the diverse forms, functions, and definitions of collective intelligence -- and much more -- on the following pages:

"Collective intelligence" entry of Wikipedia

CI pages at Co-Intelligence Institute


Blog of Collective Intelligence