Collective Intelligence

​After reading a bit and reflecting on collective intelligence and hive mind, I’ve determined that “collective intelligence” is best described as a sub-type of hive mind. In theory I think collective intelligence does more good than harm. An online community coming together to share and process important and helpful information is beneficial to everyone that is part of that online community and depending on the situation, that same information can be helpful to those offline as well. 

The most recent example that comes to my mind is my online experience after hearing about hantavirus impacting humans on the cruise ship. Initially I was fearful of another pandemic and assumed that the virus could worse quickly. However while on threads I saw many health care officials and scientists explaining more about this strand of the virus, and its effects and the way that it spreads. That alleviated some of my initial anxiety. 

The key term in all this is “intelligence”. I think it’s important for experts to be part of these online collective conversations and/or for people to fact check and make sure they are sharing accurate information. When the opposite happens, the hive mind can quickly become a vehicle for widespread misinformation. Also, if people are not aware and failing to maintain their individuality in these spaces, it’s quick to fall into “group think” or a mob mentality.