SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
captain normal writes:
An essay by Robert W.Lucky in IEEE Spectrum, 'Who is the Crowd?', discusses how the internet has provided the means for many people to contribute to knowledge.
From the essay:
I look at my computer screen and imagine all the murmuring voices behind it, clamoring for attention. There is almost a mystical presence out there, not from aliens but from something almost as thrilling and unexpected--a new presence that has been brought about as a consequence of the enveloping architecture of the Internet.
...
The crowd has wisdom, knowing things that may not be known to individuals. It has sentiments, beliefs, and feelings that can be abstracted and analyzed. Moreover, it has the power to affect the real physical world...Small armies of volunteers and paid contributors can be assembled on a moment's notice to work on projects.
I find this very much like this current project here on SoylentNews. This is a 'Crowd' thing. Not a top down organization like the old 19th ~ 20th century organization model."
(Score: 2, Interesting) by fliptop on Thursday February 20 2014, @09:19PM
I'm reminded of the scene in "Dead Poet's Society" where Robin Williams's character has a few boys "just walk." After a few seconds of ambling around aimlessly, they suddenly coordinate themselves until they're marching around in unison, much to the delight of the cheering and clapping onlookers.
The crowd's tendency to do this is what you may refer to as "self-organizing" but to me it's the beginning of mob rules. There aren't enough non-conformists out there to question whether it's the right thing to do, imho.
Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.